Incandescence
by TheBeingOfEverything
Summary: Amaimon offers Mephisto a wager: He'll teach Rin proper demon etiquette. In return Amaimon gets to play with him and Mephisto will finally go back to Gehenna where he belongs. Alternatively, Amaimon wants to bring out the demon in Rin and get Mephisto to come back to Gehenna with him, Mephisto just wants Rin.
1. Demon Etiquette

"Amaimon offers Mephisto a wager: Teach Rin proper demon etiquette and in return Amaimon gets to play with him and Mephisto will finally go back to Gehenna where he belongs. What actually ends up happening is: Rin teaches Amaimon human things, Amaimon sort of loses the bet and stays in Assiah. He finds he doesn't mind in the end."

"Set around chapters 39-44, pre Shura leaving, the festival, Mephisto's tests, and the rescue-Izumo arc. Post the impure king arc, Shura/Rin/Shiemi suspecting Yukio is hiding something (his eyes and the interaction/fight with Toudo) and Rin failing to get him to talk about it."

"Alternatively, Amaimon wants to bring out the demon in Rin and get Mephisto to come back to Gehenna with him, Mephisto just wants Rin.

A/N So I should be working on Retrospective Days but my current obsession with AoE won't leave me alone, especially since there's so little material to mindlessly consume and I've already gone through all the fics involving either Amaimon, Mephisto, Rin or any combo thereof (can you tell I have a character type? I have a character type. It's demons).

Well, there's only so many times I can re-read Opalescent by PresidentGuppy on ao3 (actually that's a lie, that fic is my fav in this fandom and also definitely makes my top 10 favorite fics of all time in any fandom so uh make that infinite times I can read that fic tbqh :P).

So, here's my guilty pleasure one-shot, with a multi-chapter yyh/aoe crossover planned for the future bc when have I ever written for a fandom when I couldn't also cross it over with yyh? lololol

* * *

"Brother."

Mephisto gave no notice that he'd heard the weak voice coming out of the darkness, letting the speaker stew in silence until he'd made his point.

He could practically feel the glare leveled at his back.

"Have you calmed your murderous intent towards our little brother, yet?"

The elder demon finally turned his attention to the body held aloft on cruel spears as he awaited the other's answer to his question.

Amaimon stared at him with his usual impassive expression, ignoring the rivulets of dried blood that had darkened his green hair into a sticky mat around his face and left flaking trails beneath his bruised eyes.

He'd taken to licking off the blood that he kept coughing up, a poor substitute for the sweet suckers and candies the earth king preferred.

"Yes, brother. But-"

Mephisto arched a brow, patiently letting the other make his point. Amaimon wasn't the type to display his inner thoughts for all to see. Not to say that he was shy about stating what he thought, but he took time to chew things over before speaking his conclusions- at least when he wasn't in a blinding rage.

Mephisto never relied on anyone but he did enjoy some of the insights his favored brother could come up with.

"I can't understand why you coddle him so much," Amaimon shrugged, a few more drops of fresh blood escaped from the edges of the holes caused by the spears, spilling over the congealed old blood that had sealed them closed.

Mephisto had noted that Amaimon would occasionally re-open the wounds himself, the pain giving him something to do while he was in his time out. His younger brother was a bit of a masochist when he was bored.

"And," Amaimon continued, scrunching his eyebrows, the only sign of the confusion he was feeling, "I can't understand why you and father are so entranced with him. He is so weak and oblivious, especially about his demonic nature, that it hurts to watch him."

Mephisto snickered at his poor brother's confusion, not that he would be fully letting on what his plans were for Rin to the other just yet, "you'll just have to keep watching him then, if you don't understand. And refrain from trying to kill him, please."

That brought a scowl from Amaimon and the demon let out an angry mutter that Mephisto caught but, proper etiquette required he press his impertinent brother to speak up.

"I said," Amaimon pouted, eyes shifting to look away from Mephisto, "I just wanted to play with him, not kill him."

Mephisto outright laughed at that, leave it to his brother to say something so ridiculous.

"My dear Amaimon, I'm afraid your- affections, may be a little much for our Rin at the moment."

Amaimon absently licked at the blood staining his fangs, contemplating his brother's words before he responded, "so, when will Rin be ready for me to play with?"

Mephisto hummed, bringing his hand up to hide his satisfied smile, "your brother may have misunderstood your intentions and certainly isn't ready for your level of play just yet."

"It's as you've said, Rin is woefully lacking in demon etiquette," Mephisto shrugged, "never mind his atrocious manners as a human."

Amaimon ignored the grumbled last bit from his older brother, eyes widening in interest at the first half.

"If I teach him etiquette will you let me play with him?" Amaimon looked as if he'd love to be chewing one of his long claws as he mulled over his brother's words. Some new blood welled up along his pinned arm as he tried to move it towards his mouth, "And you'll come home with me to Gehenna then, right?"

"Is that a wager, Amaimon?" Mephisto drawled, watching with acid green eyes and a smirk that pierced his brother as surely as the spears did.

Amaimon tilted his head, noticing the rapt attention the elder demon was suddenly paying him.

A vicious, toothy smile lit up his pale face, gold eyes seeming to glow in their intensity, looking macabre in the darkness of his brother's prison.

"Yes."

* * *

Mephisto snapped his fingers and Amaimon found himself freed from the spears holding him up.

They were back in Mephisto's office at the True Cross Academy.

"Clean yourself up, it's impossible to get the blood stains out of this carpet and I have a summons to attend to."

Amaimon felt holes closing that the spears had held open in his body for, well, it was always hard to tell how long when his brother could mess with time like it was a toy.

The earth king hauled his aching body up carefully, still not fully in control of his movements as ligaments and flesh knit back together. He could definitely do with a shower before he began the hunt for Rin.

Probably best not to say that last bit out loud, Amaimon reflected. He didn't need Mephisto hearing him think about his task as some sort of target he was hunting down for sport. His brother was weirdly enamored with the half-breed.

Still, best get this over and done with as soon as he could. The earth king was growing impatient waiting for Mephisto to tire of Assiah and come home with him.

He stopped at the door, turning back to Mephisto.

"Ah, brother-"

Mephisto looked up from the things he'd already begun gathering to leave with, "yes?"

He smiled then, realizing what the other wanted.

"Of course, you don't deserve this but you have given me an interesting bet, so-"

Mephisto appeared instantly before Amaimon, placing a bag of the demon's favorite candies in his hand and waiting for him to get a grip on it before it fell. His arms were still healing, and he didn't need candy scattered all over the carpet should the limbs give out.

At Amaimon's still anticipatory look, hard to tell apart from his other blank expressions but Mephisto had had a few thousand years to parse those apart by now, the demon sighed and leaned down, crowding the shorter against the door and pressing a kiss to Amaimon's bruised mouth.

Amaimon eagerly returned the kiss, enjoying the way Mephisto seemed to be searching out the traces of his blood still on his tongue. And, well, a quick nip with sharp fangs to the elder's bottom lip and he hummed in pleasure as he tasted blood other than his own.

Mephisto pulled away finally, letting Amaimon pant as oxygen returned to his lungs, still not quite up to any strenuous activities just yet while his body was healing. One of those spears had gotten precariously close to said lungs and breathing was difficult.

Not that he wasn't willing to try, Amaimon licked his lips at the thought, but Mephisto was already returning to his desk to deal with his boring human duties, clearly expecting Amaimon to find his way out on his own.

Later then.

Amaimon felt a rare smile tug at his lips, bringing up his clawed thumb to chew at the long black nail in thought.

Maybe after he proved he could play nice with their little Rin, Mephisto would be in a good enough mood.

His brother was so fickle sometimes.

* * *

Rin sneezed, almost banging his head on the nearby bookshelves in Shima and Koneko's dorm where he'd been hanging out since he hadn't wanted to go home just yet. The dinner with Mephisto had rattled him and the thought of being alone in his dorm since Yukio had gone- again- was a depressing one.

"Hey, you know what they say: someone's thinkin' about you," Shima teased, popping his head up from around the corner of the shelves to Koneko's side of the small room.

Rin snorted inelegantly, thinking about the few friends he had, only two of which were girls, the third girl being Shura who was basically like an older sister and didn't even count.

"Yeah, who?"

"Well, hopefully a cute girl you can take with you to the school festival coming up," Shima grinned slyly, elbowing Rin in the side and arching his brows.

"What? Seriously? A festival?"

The excited half-demon was practically vibrating as Konekomaru pulled up the event info and showed him all the cool bands that were going to be playing at the Mephyland amusement park.

And then they got to the part where only students going as couples could get into the event and Rin felt his hopes dashed.

"So Shiemi won't be able to go with me since she's not a student," Rin groaned, tail drooping in his disappointment.

"You think Izumo?" Shima said, grin becoming mushy at the thought.

Konekomaru sighed at his friend's antics, "it's doubtful, she doesn't seem like the type to go, much less with you, Shima."

Rin snickered along with Koneko at Shima's exaggerated sounds of offense to the jab.

In the end, though, they would have to wait for classes to resume the next day to ask any of their available classmates or one of the many poor girls Shima flirted with to see if they could be convinced to be their plus one.

Rin figured at least one of them would say 'yes' and there was still a good amount of time before the deadline, so he put off rushing around to find someone like Shima was planning on to head back to his and Yukio's dorm for the night.

He knew his twin wouldn't be there. And he'd been given a perfectly verifiable reason as to why. But the fact that it was becoming a re-occurring trend in their once close relationship, that Yukio was spending more and more time out busy with seemingly anything that he could find, was disheartening, to say the least.

Rin sighed, scuffing his shoes along the pavement as he made his way towards the more secluded road to the dorm. Hanging out with Shima and Koneko had only been able to distract him from his thoughts for so long but now that he was on his own the worries returned.

That brief moment where everything had come together after the fight with the impure king in Kyoto seemed so far behind already. He had the picture they'd all taken on the top of the Kyoto Tower framed on his desk and it never failed to cheer him up. But it couldn't distract from the increasingly false smiles Yukio was wearing.

Plus, there was the weird way Shura was acting, more and more using her brash actions and drinking as a way to cover up that she was antsy about something.

Izumo and Bon were also so focused on practicing for the upcoming tests they needed to graduate that they were impossible to get out anymore. Really, if he hadn't had Shima and Koneko, and hopefully now Godaain since he'd gotten the anti-demon-seeing eyewash for him, still acting normal he would be totally alone.

And Shiemi was hanging out with Yukio. A lot. In fact, it seemed like, on the few times Yukio was home, he had to leave again to go see or had just been with her. Rin knew Shiemi had known Yukio first, and they got along so well, their personalities complimenting each other perfectly.

It still didn't feel right. He felt like the world was holding its breath. Like they were on the brink of something big and there was just a short period of normality before everything imploded.

Mood officially ruined, his tail drooped until it dragged along behind him on the ground. It was bound to get tangled and it would be a total pain- literally- to brush out later but after the day he'd had he just couldn't bring himself to care.

And then his nose picked up the scent of dried blood in the air and he looked up at his surroundings, immediately tense.

"Hmm, you're getting better at this, though your awareness is still really pathetic."

"Gah!"

The half demon twisted around like he'd been scalded, immediately recognizing the voice that had come from right behind him.

"You! You're that demon, uh," Rin grasped at his memory of the name the demon had shouted at him right before he'd tried to kill him the last time he'd gotten said name wrong, "Amazon!"

That was the wrong thing to say.

Rin found himself flat on his back, air leaving him in a whoosh as Amaimon kneed him in the stomach and pinned him to the ground with one black clawed hand around his neck and the other holding his tail to the side in a bruising grip.

"First lesson in demon etiquette," the earth king snarled, claws digging into the younger demon's skin and hand yanking his trapped tail, "my name is Amaimon and I am king of earth, seventh strongest in Gehenna under Satan."

"You will remember it this time."

* * *

Gold eyes narrowed at the panic his words and actions had created in the other. He could feel the heart beat thundering through the artery under his hand and see the pinprick pupils of Rin's eyes, totally focused on him after the glaze of shock had worn off.

But, that wasn't going to win him the wager against Mephisto so Amaimon let out a soft huff and loosened his grip on the half-demon underneath him, even being so kind as to release the exposed tail. He was nice like that.

Although he left his claws at Rin's throat as a warning not to move.

"Brother thinks you're finally good enough to talk with him," he started, tilting his head to regard Rin, "I don't see why. You don't look any stronger since we first fought."

Amaimon could see the other gulp, bracing himself before responding. Although he doubted it was with an answer to the question he'd half-rhetorically implied. He already knew nobody really understood the reasons Mephisto did anything and certainly not their youngest brother, but it would be fun to witness the attempt.

"What do you want?"

Amaimon sniffed, disappointed but prepared for such a basic question, "brother gave me a task."

Not technically the truth but the little half-demon didn't need to know that.

Rin scrunched his nose, frowning as he processed that and wriggling in discomfort until he must have realized he was still trapped under Amaimon. Not that the demon knew how it was possible to forget such a thing, but it was oddly endearing in any case, to see Rin so vulnerable.

Amaimon tilted his head, frowning, as he watched a blush take over the other's face. He was pretty sure he remembered Rin reacting a lot more violently the last times they'd interacted, which was always more entertaining for Amaimon but wouldn't really help him win Mephisto's wager.

He still didn't understand the sudden change in personality.

"Um," Rin stuttered, freezing as if to avoid touching Amaimon any further, not that it helped, trapped as he was, "can you let me up now?"

"Will you run if I do?" Amaimon asked, although from the lack of anger on the other's face he didn't think he'd have to worry about that. He wondered what had happened- and how long it had been- since he'd been in Mephisto's pocket of time being punished that had changed Rin's attitude.

His brother had a nasty habit of speeding up or slowing time down in his pocket-dimensions whenever Amaimon was stuck in them based on whatever he was being punished for at that point.

He watched Rin's eyes flicker to either side as if considering which way to run and Amaimon was about to simply resign himself to having this whole conversation sitting on the foolish demon's stomach when he nodded and stopped looking so skittish.

"Okay."

* * *

Rin felt his racing heart finally start to calm when those dangerous claws slid away from his vulnerable throat and he was allowed to get out from under Amaimon.

He rose slowly, rubbing at where rocks had been digging into his back, tail twining around his leg as if to hide from being grabbed again.

He flinched as Amaimon's slit-pupiled eyes zeroed in on the movement, impassive face still somehow giving him the feeling of being watched by a coiled snake.

But he needed to find out why the older demon was even here, released from whatever prison Mephisto had been keeping him in.

"Er, do you want to come back to my dorm so, you know, we're not in the middle of the road?"

'And so no one else sees me hanging out with one of the demon kings of Gehenna, like I don't already have enough troubles,' Rin grumbled internally, hoping Amaimon would take the bait.

At the other's assenting shrug Rin steeled his nerves, turned his back to the possibly murderous demon and lead the way.

After the meeting with Mephisto, who was apparently really the demon King of time, Samael, Rin wasn't sure about anything anymore. Nothing in his life made sense, and yet, at the same time, things were falling into place that had been up in the air since the disastrous day he'd discovered his heritage.

The thought of Amaimon being loose in the world was a terrifying one but it was also an opportunity to get answers to things he was sure the shifty and vague Mephisto knew but was hiding.

He doubted that even Amaimon knew every secret Mephisto kept, but Rin was betting the demon at least knew more than he did, and was much blunter than the principal, if also reticent with his words.

Of course, he just had to survive the encounter and whatever task Mephisto had given Amaimon.

Rin almost sighed out loud in relief when his run-down dorm came into view. With the way Amaimon had been stalking behind him like a prowling big cat on silent feet, Rin had been fighting with rising hackles and screaming instincts that said to keep the demon in sight at all times.

He walked up to the door shuffling around his pockets for the keys, for once silently happy that Yukio was out because he couldn't imagine his trigger-happy twin would be okay with a demon king in their home no matter that he'd been invited by Rin.

"I thought brother made it clear that a demon's tail should be kept hidden."

Rin yelped at the sudden question-said-as-a-statement that came from way too close over his shoulder.

At the same time he was pushing open the door, he felt his poor abused tail grabbed once again by Amaimon and given a short tug. Thankfully not as painful a tug this time, if only just, but he was getting real tired of people yanking on it like it was a leash.

"Hey! Let go!"

Amaimon ignored him, pulling the furred appendage up between them to fix an analytic look at the longer mussed strands at the end.

Rin glared, feeling his lips pull up over his fangs in a silent snarl as he prepared to fight the other off his tail.

The earth king turned a dismissive glance down at him, clearly about as impressed as Mephisto had been when he'd gotten in his face too.

Luckily it didn't come to anything. Amaimon snorted and dropped his tail, pushing past Rin to enter the building like he owned the place.

Rin frowned at the rudeness but followed, shutting the door firmly behind him and watching as the demon surveyed his surroundings with an impassive face.

Although Rin was beginning to suspect that unimpressed was Amaimon's default expression regardless of what emotion the demon was actually feeling.

"Over here," Rin said pointing to the hall that lead to one of the many empty dorm rooms, not wanting the demon to see his actual room where Kuro was probably napping or intrude on the cafeteria where Ukobach reigned.

He let them into a random room choosing the first of the larger suite style dorms he could find. Anything to not be in what amounted to a shoe box with the other like most of the dorms were.

The click of the door closing behind Amaimon made Rin shiver in apprehension. But he had come this far and knew it was too late to turn back at this point. He'd just have to suck it up and deal.

Amaimon hopped up to sit on one of the built-in window desks, one leg crossed and the other dangling to kick idly against the wooden side, pulling out a bag of hard candies from a hidden pocket in his tattered maroon coat.

The movement of the cloak and the enclosed space brought that strange scent of dried blood back to Rin and he took a deeper sniff of the air, realizing with alarm that the smell was coming from Amaimon.

And was it Rin's imagination, or were there suspiciously dark stains on the already dark material?

"Hey uh, are you okay?"

Rin cringed at his own ridiculous question. Of course, the demon was okay, he'd just shown he was perfectly capable of sneaking up and incapacitating Rin without any trouble at all.

He was proven right when all he got for his question was a curious head tilt and no response.

"I mean, last time we, er, fought you kinda' collapsed and now I smell blood on you. So, I just thought I'd ask, you know, how you were doing," Rin trailed off feeling a bright flush take over his face at his sheer embarrassment.

'Oh god, kill me now.'

"You're very strange," was all he got for his efforts.

"Hey!"

Amaimon ignored his outburst, shrugging and pulling off his coat, much to Rin's bemusement.

Rin was about to ask what the hell the other was doing, especially when it looked like the demon was about to start stripping out of his shirt too when he saw what had been making the smell, suddenly stronger without the coat to keep it contained.

"Brother was upset at me for ignoring him when he told me to stop playing with you and he was especially mad when I hit him. So I was punished until I promised not to play with you again until he says I can."

"That's punishment?" Rin almost gagged at the ragged holes that had clearly been pierced through various points of Amaimon's entire body straight to the other side. Yeah, they were healing, Amaimon's demonic powers making what would be fatal wounds on a human body into simple hindrances instead, but the appearance was nightmare inducing.

Amaimon actually smirked at him, reaching down to his stomach with one hand to trail a clawed finger around the outsides of the torn fabric of his shirt and press into the lacerated skin underneath.

Rin flinched as the demon slowly undid his tie, unbuttoned the blood-stained gold vest and pulled open the equally as stained stripped button up to reveal the several other deep wounds he had.

"You really were raised as a human," Amaimon mused, ignoring the horror of his own healing body in favor of watching Rin's reaction from beneath lowered lashes.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Rin said, still unable to take his eyes off the blood encrusted torso in front of him.

"I have no idea why brother insisted you be raised in ignorance," Amaimon repeated instead of answering, "you're lucky you have me to help you now."

"Exactly, listen," Rin said, snapping back to himself and quickly averting his eyes from the scene in front of him, "I was raised human. I didn't know demons and stuff like that even existed until this year! And everyone's expecting me to already know everything, but I don't!"

A loud crunch echoed as Amaimon bit down hard on the candy he'd been sucking on, glare over taking his features and causing Rin to shut his mouth because he'd clearly said something to piss the other off.

"You are heir to the throne of Gehenna, inheritor of father's flames and you've had your mind poisoned against your own kin by those feeble humans," came the snarl from the earth king, who'd turned his head to glare around the room as if cursing the humans and their influence in Rin's life.

"Eh, no, really, it's not that bad," Rin squeaked out, waving his hand in front of him to distract the demon's ire, "I mean it would have been great to know all this from the start, although life was definitely simpler before I knew I was a demon, but I've made some great friends now and yeah, things are definitely not good with Yukio but he'll come around, he has too!"

Okay he was rambling, Rin knew. But his monologue had definitely gotten the pissed off demon to calm down and return to watching him curiously.

Not that everything he'd babbled wasn't true. For once in his life he had real friends, something that hadn't seemed like it would ever happen to him when he'd been an outcast of a kid. Really, if there wasn't a suspended execution order over his head, his self-imposed mission to kill Satan for Shiro's death, and Yukio's weird behavior recently, he'd say life was pretty good.

Amaimon seemed to have concluded something while Rin waited with baited breath.

He flinched again as Amaimon slid off the desk and stalked into his personal space to stare down at him, bringing the scent of blood into his nose again and causing his pulse to spike in his veins.

"Never bare your fangs, your heart, or your tail to anyone, especially another demon, unless you mean to."

"What?"

Rin blinked at the seeming non sequitur, still distracted by the other's nearness and his own lack of a quick escape, backed against the wall as he was.

Amaimon sighed.

"You imply three things with revealing those," the demon continued, bringing up another candy to his mouth as he explained.

"Bared fangs will lead to a fight. It's a display of dominance and a threat rolled into one that lesser demons can't resist reacting to."

"You're lucky," he said, "I've seen you display them to Mephisto many times and brother has been more patient than I've ever seen with anyone else who's threatened him like that before."

"He's killed for that offense in the past, you know," Gold eyes glinted as Amaimon narrowed them, watching to see the effect his words were having on the younger demon.

Rin gulped, thinking back to all the times he had thoughtlessly growled, snarled or otherwise shown his teeth to the elder demon.

Granted he'd definitely felt the smarmy bastard deserved it at the time but now he was rethinking things.

"Hmm, yes, you see now. Brother really likes you, I suppose."

'He sure shows it in weird ways,' Rin thought to himself, remembering back to all the vaguely threatening overtures every conversation with Mephisto tended to carry but maybe that really was just another demon thing he had yet to understand.

"Your demon heart is equally as dangerous to display but for different reasons," Amaimon said after letting his words sink in, stepping back to examine his claws and allowing Rin to breath more freely.

"Yeah, I got that after Mephisto let you out to fight me earlier," Rin mumbled, abashed.

He'd learned that lesson. Painfully. Amaimon had almost killed him in one blow. Had the other not overtaxed his human host body when he'd revealed his own demon heart and true power Rin knew exactly how that fight would have ended.

"You," Rin hesitated, coming to a realization, eyes widening as he took in Amaimon for what felt like the first time.

"You really were just playing with me when we fought in the amusement park."

Amaimon blinked at him, bemused, "of course I was. I thought I told you that?"

Rin felt like smacking himself in the face, groaning out loud.

"Is that a demon thing? Just pick fights with people for fun?"

Amaimon frowned at that, crossing his arms as if insulted by Rin's words.

"Well, what do humans do for fun?"

'Oh boy,' Rin thought, realizing with horror that there was a truly yawning gap in Amaimon's knowledge of humans and his own infinitesimal knowledge of demons had just made itself known for what felt like the millionth time.

'We're gonna be here awhile.'

* * *

Amaimon was baffled.

He'd known it was going to take work, getting their littlest brother up to speed on his demonic heritage, but he hadn't realized just how in the dark the other was.

He wanted to go back and shake Mephisto for tricking him into doing the brunt of the work his brother was clearly too lazy to do himself.

Amaimon sucked at the remainder of the last piece of candy he'd been working on, considering the conundrum he'd been presented with.

He'd been on Assiah in a human body for at least a thousand years and yet, as he'd been told by Mephisto, he hadn't even managed the mystery of human facial expressions, let alone their actual emotions and what they meant.

Not that human expressions were worth learning, or so he'd thought. But Amaimon had a sinking suspicion that getting Rin, who was so painfully human in his upbringing, to understand his role in Gehenna he would have to do more than learn human mannerisms.

He just didn't know what that would entailed.

"Um, well, we, I mean humans, like to hang out together. Like at movies or the beach or go get food or something."

Amaimon blinked, trying to remember what the conversation topic had been for Rin to start talking about human activities.

That's boring," Amaimon grumbled, picking the conversation thread back up, "where's the competition and how do you test your strength by 'hanging out'?"

Rin scratched at his dark hair, mouth cocked down into a frown, "well, there's a bunch of fun sports to play, and we do have fighting competitions. But I guess the big difference is both sides know the other one wants to be there, and both already know the risks involved."

"Ah," Amaimon exclaimed, comprehension dawning on him, "so if I had asked you if you wanted to play beforehand you would have?"

The small grin he got in return for his question was somehow rewarding to the earth king, though he couldn't place why.

"Well, I mean, I didn't know who you were then- or what you meant by 'play'- so probably not," Rin responded, though seeing Amaimon's pout, quickly adding, "but that doesn't mean we can't now, as long as you don't try to kill me."

Amaimon looked up, eyes widening at Rin's words. Did he mean-?

"Not right now! I've still got questions and I'm kinda tired from all the crazy revelations I've been having today. But maybe later," Rin amended before Amaimon could take him up on his offer.

But if he wasn't up to that kind of play, and truthfully neither was Amaimon just yet, then he must mean-

Amaimon felt a giddy joy well up in his chest and leaned down to crush a kiss to Rin's mouth when he couldn't contain it anymore.

He pressed the younger against the wall behind him, shivering at the heat of his body. It wasn't often you got an invitation like that from another demon.

And here he didn't think the other was ever going to agree to play with him so soon! He was going to have to thank Mephisto for allowing him another chance at Rin when he saw the elder again.

The mouth beneath his was slack but Amaimon smiled into the kiss, licking slightly chapped lips and chasing the taste of fire on the other's tongue. He brought up his hand to Rin's chest, feeling the core of warmth the young demon-prince exuded and delighting in the fledgling power he knew lay beneath.

Unfortunately, that was as far as he got before he was abruptly shoved back.

"Hey! What the hell?" Rin shouted, bringing a hand up to brush his wet lips and glaring in distrust, all the good humor from earlier vanished.

"I don't understand," Amaimon responded, feeling an odd sense of hurt as he held a hand to the wound in his stomach the other had just hit.

"Wuh, you don't understand?" Rin looked flabbergasted, "you can't just go around kissing people like that!"

"But you said we could play now that you knew me," Amaimon frowned.

Rin let out a strangled noise at that, much to Amaimon's ever deepening confusion.

"Is that what you meant by play?" Rin said, voice still choked and face reddening, "I thought you meant you wanted to fight again!"

Amaimon crossed his arms, the move defensive as he tried to understand the breakdown in communication.

"I'm too injured to fight," Amaimon said slowly as he worked out what he thought had been a simple sequence of events, "you said you were tired but still wanted to play with me."

Rin was looking alarmingly red by now, "and you thought that meant you should stick your tongue down my throat?"

Amaimon chewed at his clawed thumb, habit coming to him with the unfamiliar territory he had entered, "Actually, I thought we would fuck."

Was that steam coming out of Rin? Amaimon was a bit worried to see the other appeared to be suffering some kind of breakdown in the corner of the room he'd suddenly retreated to.

The younger demon's face was clutched between his legs and he was facing the wall, tail lashing erratically behind his back.

Mephisto would skewer him again if he broke their younger brother, Amaimon determined, knowing he'd have to fix this mess if he wanted to win the wager.

And, the earth king realized, startled, he wanted to fix Rin because he had grown fond of the little half-demon now that he'd gotten the chance to talk with him.

He stepped unnoticed over to the crouched form, bending down to poke the other's shoulder and trying to ignore the incredibly distracting way Rin's tail kept sweeping just under his nose.

"Hey, what's wrong with you?"

When all he got for his efforts was a low groan Amaimon sighed and joined the other on the ground, leaning forward to rest his chin on Rin's shoulder and draping the smaller form with his body.

"This is a human thing Mephisto is always warning me about, isn't it?"

That seemed to have gotten Rin's attention, the other's tail finally slowing its movement except for a twitch of interest at the statement.

Although Amaimon was having problems focusing on what his plan had been up until that point. He was becoming increasingly fixated on nuzzling into the other's neck and chasing the scent he found in that soft black hair brushing against his cheek.

"Why are you doing this?"

Amaimon let out a huff, delighting in the way it caused Rin to shiver when it went across his neck. Maybe they could get back to the part where they had sex. Amaimon would like that very much.

That was when he noticed the rumbling growl building up in the body beneath his.

He only had a brief moment to realize the hunched shoulders were tensed when he was knocked backwards, teeth clacking against each other painfully as his jaw was slammed shut by the surprise attack.

Amaimon found himself on his back, a reverse of the way the encounter with Rin had begun that day.

He grunted as he found his breath cut off, Rin's hands clamped around his throat.

And it wasn't his imagination that things were warmer all of a sudden, flickers of blue flame appearing in patches on the furious demon straddling his body.

"Stop messing with me!"

Amaimon didn't have the oxygen to ask what he meant, heartbeat thundering louder in his ears with every passing moment he couldn't breathe.

"Nobody likes me like that!"

Wait, Amaimon blinked past the involuntary tears blurring his vision to realize Rin's eyes were also suspiciously wet. Was the other crying?

"They all like Yukio, even Shiemi. I'm just the vicious, stupid demon," Rin delivered with a choked voice, eyes clenching shut and head bowing over Amaimon, repeating, "nobody likes me like that."

'Ah.'

Amaimon finally understood and he had to wrestle with the urge to go rip that disgusting, condescending human twin to shreds for making Rin feel like he was somehow worth less because of his demonic nature.

Black spots were making it hard to see but Amaimon ignored his body's instincts telling him to attack the cause, instead reaching up and placing a gentle hand on Rin's cheek.

"Huh?"

Amaimon traced the other's jaw with his claws, brushing the few tears that had escaped away with the pad of this thumb.

Rin released Amaimon's neck, shocked out of his rage by the unexpected caress. The blue flames disappeared, leaving the other looking small and sad, haloed as he was by the dorm's pale fluorescent lighting.

Amaimon gasped out scratched breaths, chest heaving at the sudden return of air to his starved lungs. The hand he wasn't still holding to Rin's face clutched at his own throat as he tried to massage away the finger-shaped bruises that were surely there.

"Why?"

Amaimon watched with a strange fascination as his hand was gripped between both of Rin's, still held against the other's face.

"You have been made to feel ashamed of your very nature," Amaimon croaked out, coughing until he could speak again, "those simpering, weak-hearted humans have convinced you that you are evil and wrong simply for being who you are."

At the denial in Rin's face and shaking head Amaimon pressed on, needing the other to understand the conclusion he had come to, "while they hide beneath their façade of vague morals and strangled societies, you, in all your raw power and strength of heart hold up a mirror to everything they refuse to face in themselves."

"I don't-"

Rin cut himself off, starting to shiver as the emotional rollercoaster he'd just been on fully hit him.

"In Gehenna, amongst your own kind, you wouldn't be punished for your nature," Amaimon said, firmly, to make sure the other couldn't mistake his meaning this time.

"They try to contain you, keep you weak and tamable, where you should be wild and confident in your position as heir to the blue flames of our father."

"You should have hordes of demons lining up for the chance to be in your presence, let alone have the privilege of your affections."

There, Amaimon thought, he had said his piece. Let the other do what he would then.

He found that Rin was watching him with wide blue eyes, still holding his hand as if it were a lifeline. He really was going to have to find Mephisto after this and ask what the hell the elder had been thinking when he left their littlest brother to be raised in such a cruel way.

Maybe he would even punch him again. The punishment would be worth it this time.

"You- you really think so?" Rin sniffled when Amaimon just nodded in calm assent, squeezing Rin's hand in silent comfort.

And then Amaimon had the breath literally and figuratively knocked out of him again when he found himself being kissed by an enthusiastic half-demon.

Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, Amaimon pulled Rin more on top of him, coaxing the inexperienced and sloppy kiss into something deeper and wondering if the other demon would object much if he brought his teeth and claws into play.

Amaimon didn't think he could handle it if Rin decided he wanted to stop again. He'd probably have to go find Mephisto and beg the other to take him if that happened.

He brought his hands up to card through the inky black hair, trying to map out the inside of Rin's mouth with a fervency that came out of nowhere to surprise him in its intensity.

The half-demon seemed desperate to touch every bit of Amaimon's exposed skin, sending jolts of pain-pleasure through his body every time those hands scrapped past the- finally- almost healed wounds.

Amaimon felt a purr reverberate through his chest as he got the contact he'd been craving ever since he'd been locked away for so long with nothing but Mephisto's spears impaling him.

He felt himself hardening, rubbing up against the hips above his, trying to get more of that delicious friction despite the annoying clothes in the way.

Rin gasped at the movement, breaking the kiss and arching above Amaimon, panting as if he'd just remembered he needed to breathe.

Amaimon was just about to pull him back down, and possibly tear off the other's obstructive clothing, when he was suddenly picked up by his neck and yanked back along the floor to smash into the wall behind him, a twin crash sounding from where Rin must have also been tossed.

A ferocious snarl tore out of his mouth at the bastard who'd dared interrupt him when he realized just who it was who'd interrupted.

Mephisto stood, dangerous green eyes narrowed and slit-pupil-focused on Amaimon as if daring him to keep baring his fangs at him.

Amaimon almost ignored the silent warning anyway when Mephisto began speaking.

"It seems you haven't learned from your punishment, Amaimon. I believe we agreed you would teach Rin demon etiquette, not seduce him."

Before he could come up with a way to appease his brother, Mephisto began counting.

"Eins, zwei, drei, Kuchen Kuckucksuhr!"

Amaimon had one panicked moment to search the room for Rin before he was swallowed up by his brother's damned technique and knew no more.

* * *

"Now then," Mephisto sighed, turning from where Amaimon had been, "I'm very sorry for his behavior. That was most certainly not what I had intended when I released him this morning. I assure you he will be put back in time out until he understands what he may and may not do without my say."

A crack echoed through the air and Mephisto had a strange moment when he realized it was because he'd been punched across the face.

He turned astonished eyes down to an enraged Rin, finding the half-demon wreathed in blue flames despite kurikara still sheathed by the wall.

"Let him go!"

This was… most unexpected, Mephisto thought just as all reasoning seemed to leave Rin.

The half-demon hadn't looked this out of control since his last fight with Amaimon, teeth bared in a roar and eyes appearing like the hottest part of a fire. Incandescent with rage.

"I'm not sure I understand," Mephisto said, knowing it was to an empty audience since the growling demon in front of him was hardly lucid, but he felt the surreal situation deserved it.

"Give him back to me!"

That last demand was more roared out than spoken and Mephisto had a sinking feeling of apprehension to see that Rin had given into his demonic instincts, no longer capable of conscious reasoning at all.

It must have happened when Mephisto tossed him into the wall. The surprise attack coupled with the state he'd found Rin and Amaimon in would have been enough to cause the change in the fledgling demon, still too new to his instincts to know how to counter them. It was bringing him back that would be the hardship.

Rin would have to be snapped out of it because it didn't seem like he'd be able to come back on his own until he eliminated what was causing his anger in the first place. Namely, it seemed, being with Amaimon and exterminating the intruding demon who'd come between them, Mephisto, in this case.

This was not the plan, Mephisto complained to himself inwardly, already summoning Amaimon back from his prison as it would be the quickest way to calm Rin, avoid property damage, and get some answers out of his two most troublesome brothers.

It wasn't a moment too soon that Amaimon was spat back out from the cuckoo prison, looking exactly as bewildered as Mephisto was feeling.

Rin's focus zeroed in on the earth king and the half breed made to launch himself at him as Mephisto went to stand at Amaimon's back, the implied threat halting Rin from advancing.

Amaimon immediately went lax against his chest, knowing he had a lot of explaining to do and trying to placate the elder demon.

Mephisto brought his gloved hand up to Amaimon's neck to hold him in place, keeping his stare fixed on Rin.

"What happened?"

Amaimon shifted to look up at him, although Mephisto didn't deign to meet his gaze. To take his eyes off of Rin with the way he currently was would only spur the half-breed into attacking.

He wanted his answers now and not whenever Rin would wake up after being knocked unconscious.

"He wanted to play with me," Amaimon said instead of answering.

Mephisto sneered and tightened his grip on Amaimon's neck at the deliberate obtuseness.

He had thought the temptation of winning a wager against him, however slim the odds of that were, would have kept his competitive brother in check. Especially knowing how badly the demon wanted him to come back to Gehenna. Distracting Amaimon with teaching Rin a bit more about what it meant to be a demon was just the icing on the cake.

He hadn't counted on Amaimon deciding he liked Rin after all.

"We will discuss this later," Mephisto said, the future punishment for disobeying him implied, "can you calm him enough to be rational if I let you go to him?"

"Yes, brother."

Mephisto shoved Amaimon towards Rin, admitting to himself he was in truth a little curious to see how this would all play out.

Rin immediately went from eyeing Mephisto like he'd love to tear his throat out to focusing his attention on the freed earth king.

Amaimon stumbled forward before righting himself and moving the last few feet to curl into Rin's possessive embrace.

Rin kept his arms wrapped tightly around the taller demon, pulling him back into his grasp in a mirror of the way Mephisto had held him earlier. The blue flames enveloped Amaimon but didn't burn him the way he'd been the first time he'd been introduced to them.

Clawed fingers ran down Amaimon's chest and under the part of his still open shirt as if seeking out the places Mephisto had been in contact with earlier to burn away the traces of his touch.

It was…a very nice sight, Mephisto decided, tilting his head to appreciate the way Rin tucked his nose into the crook of Amaimon's throat, still watching Mephisto with those dangerous blue eyes as if daring him to try to take the demon back from him.

He saw the moment Amaimon realized where his thoughts were heading by the way the other made the rather salacious move to bare his throat to Rin- and by proxy to Mephisto as well- angling his head back to stare at Mephisto from beneath his lashes.

"This isn't helping, Amaimon," Mephisto said, hearing the way his voice had gone rough and watching the shiver it sent through Amaimon's body, despite the way the flames licked up his skin, with interest.

"You interrupted us," the absolute tease responded. A wide smirk formed on his face just before a gasp escaped him and his eyes fluttered closed as Rin ran his fangs over his jugular.

Right, Mephisto decided, snapping his fingers and transporting the three of them to his bedroom in a cloud of pink smoke. He deserved nice things every once in a while, especially after the day he'd had, and this situation had practically gift-wrapped itself for his pleasure.

Amaimon looked like the cat who'd caught several fat canaries as he found himself pushed down to the ground and crouched over once again by Rin, who'd immediately resumed snarling at Mephisto in surprise at the sudden teleportation. Thankfully the flames were gone, but he would have to act fast before they returned and Rin burned his room down in a fit.

That wouldn't do, Mephisto grinned, vanishing only to emerge in front of the two and yank Rin up off Amaimon, tossing him on the cushy pink king-sized bed. The shocked look on the little half-demon's face was adorable but he had to set a precedence or things would end up bloody.

Mephisto gave Rin no time to adjust, appearing over him to pull his arms over his head with one hand, holding them in an iron grip and straddling his waist to keep him from kicking.

Rin looked like he was about to combust with rage until Mephisto leaned down to lock his fangs around Rin's throat and growled, the sound echoing like a tiger throughout the room.

Rin immediately went slack under him, recognizing a bigger threat when he heard one.

Amaimon chose that moment to climb onto the bed, having made the executive decision to remove the remaining tatters of his clothes. The earth king was now naked except for the slim lizard-like tail curled around his waist and Mephisto hummed at the sight, tongue laving at the throat still captured in his mouth.

Amaimon brought his hand to Rin's scalp, scraping claws delicately through his hair and bringing the trapped demon's attention back to him. Mephisto allowed it, breathing the mingling scents from Rin's throat and Amaimon's wrist before pulling back with a satisfied sigh, knowing Rin was unlikely to be a threat now.

Rin made for a very pretty sight, panting and wary beneath him, holding still in the place Mephisto had left him in as he waited to see what the dominant demon would do now that he'd made their positions clear.

He turned to gaze down at Amaimon from where he sat over Rin, gesturing with a nod to both of their still clothed bodies, "well? You've been begging for this all day, it seems. Get to it."

Amaimon complied, reaching forward to carefully unbutton the suit Mephisto had chosen to wear that day. Mephisto watched with dark eyes as the other slowly peeled off the layers of his clothes until all that remained were his gloves and his slacks.

Without warning Mephisto dragged Amaimon to him, bringing his forehead down so that his hair framed the other's face and making sure he was looking into his eyes.

"I am going to let Rin take you and then I will take you," he breathed into the mouth under his, "do you understand?"

He swallowed the involuntary moan that came out of Amaimon in a kiss that was all teeth and heat, crushing their bodies together over the still prone Rin.

Without looking he snapped his fingers and Rin's clothes and his own vanished to reappear folded neatly in a nearby chair. The half-demon beneath him hissed at the sudden exposure of his skin to the air, bringing his hands to Mephisto's waist as if to push him off. Mephisto put a stop to that by grinding down onto the bare skin revealed to him now and Rin arched back into the bed, eyes glazing over at the sensation.

He allowed himself a moment to revel in the feeling, dragging his hips over Rin's once more in a deliberate movement that sent electricity singing through his nerves before he forced himself off and to the side.

"Prepare him and yourself, Amaimon," Mephisto instructed roughly, realizing his fangs had lengthened and knowing that meant his eyes and ears had taken on their true demonic appearance as well.

Amaimon didn't need to be told twice, moving over to Rin's waist and leaning down to lick a long, slow strip up the demon's inner thigh.

Rin panted helplessly, hair sticking to his forehead and flushed face as his eyes tracked the earth king's path.

Then the half-demon let out a groan as he was enveloped by Amaimon's warm mouth, thrusting up into the inviting heat.

It was a good thing Amaimon had no gag-reflex to speak of as Rin, out of his mind as he was, brought his hand to the head over him and pushed into it at a merciless pace.

Mephisto felt a heated growl reverberate through his chest. He knew Amaimon more than had the strength to hold Rin down and go at whatever speed he wanted to. The shameless demon was letting himself be used in such a forceful way.

However, if he let them continue the fun would be finished far too soon so he reached over and dragged a clawed finger down Amaimon's spine to end at the base of his tail, tapping it pointedly to remind the demon of his other task.

Mephisto felt his breath catch and he inhaled sharply as, instead of pulling back from Rin like he'd expected, the earth king slid his tail from the tight loops around his waist that he'd kept it wound in.

The slim green tail waved in lazy, careless coils behind Amaimon, the demon knowing the sight would entrance Mephisto. Indeed, he almost moved to grab it as it made a pass near his hand but he managed to restrain himself, knowing his patience would pay off tenfold in the end.

He was rewarded to the sight of that tail skimming up Amaimon's leg before it reached his rim and began to tease at it, causing the demon to arch his hips back up into the blunt tip.

Amaimon moaned around Rin as he impaled himself on his own tail, pushing back onto it at the same time as Rin pushed his head down.

Mephisto knew the masochistic demon wouldn't wait very long to get to the next step and was proven correct when Amaimon only thrust in a few times before finally disengaging from Rin and sitting up, much to the other demon's wordless frustration.

Amaimon looked down at Rin, eyes heavy with lust and mouth slick with saliva, bruised at the rough treatment he'd been at the mercy of.

He looked over at Mephisto and his lips slowly lifted in a sly smile.

Before Mephisto could think of what that look could mean the demon lifted himself over Rin and sat down without warning, both of them shouting at the abrupt feeling.

Amaimon's tail was still in him, right alongside Rin now.

Mephisto hissed out a long breath at the sight, heart thudding in his chest and hands clenching in the sheets until they almost tore and he came back to himself, realizing what Amaimon meant for him to do.

Well.

Well, that was a far better plan than he'd had, and he wasn't too proud to admit it, either.

Amaimon was bowed over Rin, elbows bent until his hair tickled at the chest beneath him when Mephisto finally took pity on him and shifted until he could kneel behind the two.

He dropped his head over Amaimon's spine, placing a kiss onto one of his vertebrae. He lined himself up, breath held as he watched as Amaimon slowly slid his tail out of his stretched entrance to let it trail along Mephisto's heated skin in a rasp of smooth scales.

That was all the waiting Mephisto could take. He pushed into that tight heat, hearing the twin groans of the two demons beneath him at the added sensation, so much larger than the tail had been.

He didn't give them time to adjust, fucking up into Amaimon alongside Rin, the intensity almost too much to take at once.

For his part, Rin had given up, mind gone to the pleasure he'd never experienced before, hands scrabbling at the bed beneath him and head tossed back in a silent scream.

Amaimon couldn't do much of anything at all except take the punishing thrusts, body shuddering at the force.

Mephisto hooked an arm around Amaimon's waist, adjusting the angle to go deeper and pull the other demon down at the same time.

Amaimon cried out as Mephisto hit that sensitive bundle of nerves inside him, tightening as much as his body could, being filled as it was.

That was when Rin finally gave out, coming in a hot rush that filled Amaimon's insides with a warmth that almost had Mephisto following suit had he not had thousands of years of practice in extending the experience as long as he could.

Mephisto didn't hesitate long in pulling Amaimon off the younger demon and throwing him onto his stomach to the side, slamming back into the raised hips as the earth king shouted at the rough handling.

He pressed Amaimon's face further into the mattress, delighting in the expanse of the demon's exposed back. He raked his claws down across shoulder blades to leave red trails that he dragged his tongue across making Amaimon howl at the pain mixed with pleasure.

Mephisto could feel himself getting close and decided to up the ante, unwinding his own tail from around his waist and twining it with Amaimon's, gasping at the sparks that danced across his senses as he did.

His mind went hazy as he slid the two lengths against each other, the pleasure from two sources at once overwhelming until it was the only thing he was aware of at all.

He brought both their joined tails up to his mouth and bit down, whiting out and coming with a muffled shout into Amaimon, who didn't last any longer after Mephisto brought the tails into play.

He came back to his senses slowly, luxuriating in the afterglow and feeling a rumbling purr coming from his chest as he relaxed down onto the bed on his side.

Amaimon pulled away and slumped to the other side, panting as he, too, came down from the exertion.

Mephisto scratched his claws lightly along the demon's flank, enjoying the way Amaimon's breath shivered through him, slowing down in increments as he relaxed into the covers.

He leant over to grab Amaimon's hair and place a rough, open-mouthed kiss on the other's lips, ignoring the tired grumble he received in return until the earth king gave in and allowed him to have his way.

That was when a strange squeak sounded from where they'd left Rin.

Mephisto slowly broke the kiss but kept his head where it was to look up at Rin with a smirk, murmuring, "I believe he's come back to his senses, Amaimon."

Amaimon grunted an acknowledgment and wiggled further into the covers, draping his tail over his jutting hip.

"Does that mean I have to go back to explaining things now?"

Mephisto scowled down at him, sniffing at the disrespectful tone, "I should make you for so poorly following my orders. But I believe this time I'll let your punishment slide."

"Did we- did we just, uh," Rin couldn't complete his question, going back to the bashful youth he was instead of the dominant demon his instincts had turned him into. A beautiful sign of things to come, Mephisto was sure.

"Fuck."

"Have sex."

Rin squeaked again at their blunt words, pulling one of the many pillows he'd been laying on against his face as if to suffocate himself to escape the embarrassment he was feeling.

"What is wrong with him?" Amaimon groused, dropping onto his back and tilting his head to the side to consider the younger demon.

"I believe he's suffering from the human condition. A tragedy but nothing we can fix right now, unfortunately," Mephisto snickered.

Rin grave a strangled yowl at the teasing words and chucked his pillow at the two lounging demons, "don't laugh at me, bastards! This is your fault!"

Mephisto sighed good naturedly, running a hand through his sweat-drenched hair and tugging at the knots he found. He'd have to take a shower later.

"I thought you were supposed to be teaching me how to be a demon, not- not that!"

Rin crossed his arms across his chest, hiding his lower half under the blankets. His tail was still waving behind him in his irritation.

Mephisto looked down at Amaimon, seeing that the other was sharing the same thought he was.

"Didn't I tell you there were three things a demon must learn to hide?" Amaimon said, face as innocent as it had ever looked, which was to say, not at all, "we covered your fangs and your heart, but I never did tell you about your tail, did I?"

"Wuh?"

Rin didn't get a chance to puzzle that one out before he was pounced on and tackled back into the sheets.

"Hey! Ah-!"

Rin's voice trailed off in a shocked moan as Amaimon and Mephisto showed him a totally new way to toy with his tail, forgetting what he was supposed to be protesting as he was pulled into a new round of play with the two insatiable demons.

He didn't get a lot of chances to complain about his demonic heritage after that.

* * *

And Fin!

So what you've just witnessed is my first attempt at writing smut. Getting over that first hurdle of using the word "fuck" as anything but a swear was pretty funny, let me tell you.

I gotta say this was a wild ride and I churned this bad boy out in two-ish days of inspired writing, which after the year of writer's block was a breath of fresh air. So let's hope I can maintain the enthusiasm and finally update my other poor fics lol

Thanks for reading, and let me know what you guys think!


	2. Seven Mysteries

A/N Did I say this was a one-shot? Oh well, I had this idea bouncing around after I finished writing Incandescence and originally I thought it might turn into a whole nother fic. But it fit neatly into this AU so I thought, what the hey, I'll just add another chapter. Also, if the timeline doesn't quite match up to canon, just assume it's because Mephisto was jumping all over the place through time (like his "talk" with Amaimon I put in the first chapter happens a little later in canon) and things play out the same, just in a different order. Boy it sure is great having a literal time demon to cover up the fact that I can't keep a timeline straight :D

"Amaimon has decided he likes Rin after-all. Rin wants to know when HIS feelings are gonna be taken into account." Cue Amaimon following Rin around being a curious (read: nosy) pest while Rin tries to get through exams, complete Mephisto's tests, and prepare for the festival without his fellow exorcists and twin combusting over their new tagalong."

Uh did I say I was gonna update Retrospective Days next? I meant I was gonna add another chapter to this instead :DDD

(I promise I'm working on RD too)

Also, I thought I'd put down some thoughts about the Rin/Amaimon/Mephisto pairing (or any combo thereof). In my head-canon, the demon kings are more like a pantheon of gods a la ancient Egypt, Roman, Norse and Greek deities are portrayed and less like biological siblings like Rin and Yukio are. So, much like all the Norse gods came from Ymir, all the demon kings came from Satan.

SPOILERS for the newest aoe chapters revealed that the body Amaimon is possessing is literally a clone of Mephisto but that they all started as concepts that gained egos and eventually bodies whereas Rin and Yukio are born from Yuri Egin (human) and Satan possessing a clone body (I think, don't quote me on this). So, I don't really consider this a sibling pairing fic like a Rin/Yukio fic would be, more clonecest, if anything. And they're all immortal demons so what's age even mean? :}

And that's my TEDtalk.

* * *

'This is how I die.'

Rin wanted to sink into the ground and never come up.

Not because he was depressed or anything, although with the way his life was right now that could always change, but because the embarrassment was eating him alive.

Three days. Three days had gone by since the… incident with two demons who shall not be named.

Every time he thought he was close to forgetting, some small thing would remind him and he'd become a blushing incoherent mess, needing to hide somewhere he could calm his racing pulse.

Like now, when his tail had cramped up from being wound around his waist and he'd reached up his shirt to massage the pain away only to be brought back to the night Amaimon had run delicate claws over it while Mephisto sucked the furred end and-

Oh god he was doing it again.

Rin let his head thunk down against the desk in his dorm, groaning at the unfairness of it all. Normally he'd be flinging himself into a cold shower to get over the feelings he definitely didn't want to feel or… taking care of the problem the old-fashioned way, trying not to think about any specific faces while he relieved himself. But, Yukio was coming home soon, and he did not need his younger brother walking in on- that- which was the crux of his current predicament.

Plus, there was the fact that for the past three days he'd been being stalked by Amaimon.

The bastard had taken to popping up on the edge of his senses and Rin could practically- feel- the intense stare coming from somewhere nearby. The damn demon had been leaving traces of himself all over town, either his scent or various dropped candy wrappers and food that Rin- knew- had to belong to the earth king.

He'd avoided Mephisto at all costs after the one time he'd seen him around campus.

Just catching a glimpse of the principal had transported his mind to that bedroom all over again and he'd squeaked and run the other way.

It especially didn't help that Rin had been fantasizing increasingly dirty scenarios every time he drifted off. He kept seeing the way Mephisto had claimed Amaimon's mouth, leaning over the smaller demon on the bed while Amaimon had just let him, slim green tail twitching over his hips.

So, Rin sat at his desk consumed with his thoughts and becoming increasingly uncomfortable until the sound of the door latch clicking made him gasp in relief. He jolted upwards, keeping his expression bright and cheerful and hoping Yukio wouldn't guess at where his mind had just been.

"You look like you've got a problem, Rin Okumura."

"Gah!"

Rin shrieked as he realized the person at the door wasn't Yukio, or even a person, really, pushing back into his chair and hearing it screech across the floor until he was stopped by the leg of his desk.

"Amaimon!"

The demon king of earth stood casually against the open door, face in his usual impassive expression and sucking one of the many suckers he always seemed to have. Except Rin knew the bastard had to be hiding a smirk by the glint in his gold eyes and the cocky way he'd said his name.

"Oh?" Amaimon came closer, shutting the door, "you remember my name, finally?"

Rin gulped, knowing there was a catch somewhere in that question.

Sure enough, Amaimon curled his lips in a smirk around the sucker in his mouth, jagged fangs revealed, "It's a pity, I was going to teach it to you again."

'He can't mean?'

Rin's eyes widened and his breath caught, face blazing red.

"No way! I thought I told you bastards to leave me alone!" Rin yelped, crossing his hands in an 'X' in front of him to ward off the advancing demon.

"Hmm?" Amaimon stopped, hand on his hip as he considered the half-demon from a few feet away, "why are you resisting? Didn't we cover this already?"

"What?" Rin said, trying to figure out what the other could be talking about, "cover what already? You can't just barge in here and expect me to do that stuff with you without warning!"

"Ah!" Amaimon exclaimed, dropping his fist into his palm, "I remember. You told me you wanted me to ask you beforehand if we could play together."

"Yeah, that's it," Rin nodded, crossing his arms and nodding.

Wait…

"No, that's not what I meant!" Rin said, frantic as he realized that Amaimon had been recalling their conversation about play and how he'd totally misconstrued what demons considered it to be. Or rather, he hadn't realized they had two definitions for the word and didn't distinguish them very well.

"Rin."

And then Amaimon was on him, knee wedged between his thighs on the edge of the seat and hands on the desk, bracketing him in with nowhere to go

"Can we play now?"

Rin's breath stuttered to a halt, noticing then how close Amaimon was to him and feeling the heat of his body right through his clothes.

Amaimon's slit-pupiled eyes seemed to have a hypnotizing effect on Rin, pinning him in place with a heavy-lidded look like a mouse staring up at a snake.

"I don't-" Run took a shuddering breath as he tried to formulate an argument. Something, something, there had to be- something- or he was going to be in a real awkward position when Yukio-

That's it!

"My brother's gonna be home soon! He'll kill us if he sees you here!"

Saved by the brother card, Rin sighed internally, adrenaline pounding through him at the close call.

"Then we'll just have to make this quick, won't we?" Amaimon grinned like a shark, taking his sucker out of his mouth and tossing it behind him to a random corner of the room.

Before he could protest, Amaimon was sliding onto Rin's lap, bringing his hand up to grip his hair and slipping his long, tapered tongue into his mouth.

"Mmf!"

Rin was overwhelmed by the sweet taste of cherries from the lingering flavor of the sucker and Amaimon's slick tongue winding against his.

He sighed into Amaimon's mouth, hands coming up to grip at the other's shoulders and feeling his eyes shuttering closed without meaning too.

This may or may not have been one of the many scenarios he'd been fantasizing about.

He couldn't help it! Rin moaned as Amaimon pulled him flush to his chest, trembling at the friction of clothes against skin.

Before that night with the two demons, the most action he'd gotten was himself, the shoujo romance books he hid under his bed, and the vague idea that he'd like to kiss Shiemi maybe someday.

Now, all he could think about was claws tracing down his hips, toying with his tail, while another pair of hands pulled at his hair and bared his neck to sharp fangs and a hot tongue.

Amaimon seemed to know where his mind was, having moved on from his mouth to nibble down his neck, each small nip sending electricity shooting south until Rin was writhing against the body above his.

The bold demon had already loosened Rin's tie and began unbuttoning his shirt to reveal his wound-up tail, which was shaking, though whether in anticipation or fear, Rin couldn't tell.

"Have you learned to keep your tail to yourself then?"

Rin blinked hazy eyes as he tried to register what Amaimon could possibly be talking about.

"You certainly haven't in that school of yours," Amaimon said against the point of his tail near his collarbone, heated breath teasing the furred-skin and leaving Rin feeling weak.

"When have I what?" Rin couldn't remember when he'd shown his tail in school, too focused on the sharp fangs within biting distance of the sensitive appendage.

Amaimon placed a soft kiss to the tail, sending heat straight to Rin's stomach, his muscles tensing in an effort to control himself.

"You brought it out to threaten that weak apparition bothering that human classmate of yours," Amaimon watched him, keeping his mouth within centimeters of Rin's tail so that every movement of his lips caused them to brush the short fur and sending waves of sensation through him.

"And then you brought it out again to show him to his face that you were a demon," Amaimon cocked his head, settling his hands on Rin's hips and gripping them tightly, "I almost came out to play with you right there in front of all your classmates and those miserable exorcists at your shameless display."

Rin would have liked to protest that ridiculous possessive statement except that Amaimon chose that moment to grind his hips down on Rin's.

"Ah!"

Rin's head fell back on the chair, mouth gaping at the delicious pressure Amaimon was applying.

His pants were unbearably tight now, and every movement of Amaimon's hips brought a mixture of pain and pleasure that prevented him from thinking past the next moment.

Amaimon appeared to have an actual plan, however, the earth king reaching down to undo both their pants.

Rin was helpless to do anything but watch as Amaimon stood long enough to free himself before returning to tug Rin out of his boxers and sit back on his lap.

Seeing himself lined up against Amaimon was almost too much to take and Rin let out a thin whine.

The noise attracted Amaimon's attention right away.

"That's a strange sound. Make it again."

"No way," Rin growled out, cheeks flushing and trying to keep silent in embarrassment at the sound he didn't even know he could make

"Oh?" Amaimon's eyes seemed to glow with an unholy light, "I'll just have to get you to make other fun sounds, then."

A soft click reached both their senses, then.

Rin had a brief moment of confusion before he realized that click had come from the vicinity of the front door a few floors down.

"Oh god, Yukio's home," Rin yelped, hands trying to push Amaimon off as the panic hit his nerves.

Amaimon didn't acknowledge the impending doom heading towards the room, "I guess we'll have to finish this quickly then before he reaches us."

"What?"

Rin moaned, the sound escaping his mouth without his say as Amaimon gripped both their lengths in his hand and began to pump them together, using the pre-come that had been collecting there as slick.

"Better keep quiet, don't want that human hearing you all the way downstairs," Amaimon teased, voice breathless but no less sly.

There would be no coming back from the embarrassment, Rin knew, bringing his hand up to fist over his mouth to try to muffle the sounds he was making at each pass of Amaimon's clever hand.

His other hand seemed to reach out of its own accord to grip Amaimon's shoulder, needing something to hold onto while he came apart.

Amaimon ran a clawed thumb over Rin's and his slits with his free hand and Rin couldn't hide the groan that left his mouth when the demon brought it to his own lips, tasting.

Rin found his hand pulled away and his mouth captured and he could suddenly taste himself mixed with the earth king on his tongue.

He was so close, body trembling and heat coiling in his stomach. His tail clenched around his torso, rubbing against the skin there with a mind of its own.

Amaimon released his hand and parted his shirt further, reaching around to the base of his tail and giving a hard tug.

Rin keened, clenching his eyes shut and coming against his own chest.

Amaimon gave a few more pulls and soon was adding his own come to the mess.

Rin wasn't given any time to relax, finding the other demon already moving off his lap to crouch at his knees.

Then there was a warm mouth on his over-sensitive skin and Rin cried out, bewildered.

He didn't have any time to consider it before the earth king was bringing his lips to Rin's chest and mouthing the skin there too.

He stared down at the green head at his lap. Amaimon was cleaning him off, licking all traces of their activities away with broad sweeps of his tongue.

Rin watched with glazed eyes, knowing this scene before him was going to be featuring heavily in his future fantasies.

He found himself being tucked back into his pants and his shirt buttoned up, feeling like he was having an out of body experience.

Amaimon began re-doing his tie with brisk, no-nonsense movements. He tugged it into place, pulling Rin up and kissing him at the same time.

"Mmf!"

Rin gasped at the sudden kiss, shocked out of his stupor as the past half hour caught up to him.

He heard steps down the hall and broke this kiss, "oh my god, go! He's almost here!"

Amaimon smirked, pulling Rin up against his chest and placing a chaste kiss on his head.

"Let's play again soon, Rin."

Then the absolute bastard was at his window, opening the shutters and hopping out without a backwards glance.

He didn't have any time to curse out the demon as the door was opened and Yukio entered the room.

'Act normal, act normal!'

Rin turned and grinned with grit teeth, waving at his twin, "Hey, Yukio, long-time-no-see. How was your trip?"

Instead of answering him, Yukio looked around the room with furrowed brows, "does it smell…musty in here, Rin?"

'Oh god, he knows,' Rin felt his grin grow brittle and his heart thunder through his veins as he tried to think of a way to explain to his younger brother that he was smelling the scent of sex in the room because Rin had just been taken advantage of by the demon king of earth and oh, yeah, that wasn't the first time and he definitely hadn't tried to fight him off this go round either.

"Well, we should probably clean in here," Yukio shrugged, unknowingly sparing himself the sordid details, "why don't you open the rest of these windows and we'll deal with this when we get back from remedial classes tonight."

"Oh yeah, sure. Good idea," Rin sighed in relief, feeling semi-hysterical giggles threatening to escape. Luckily, he kept it together long enough to grab Kurikara and his class supplies, heading to the door in the hopes of getting away from the scene of the crime before Yukio noticed anything else suspicious.

"Hold on, what's this?"

'I'm dead.' Rin gulped and looked around to see what damning evidence Yukio must have found.

"Rin, what have I told you about leaving your junk food around the room, why would you just toss this in the corner like that?"

Yukio held Amaimon's sucker between pinched fingers in disgust, unable to imagine why Rin would leave an unfinished piece of sticky candy to melt into the wooden floors. Didn't his brother know that's how you got ants?

"I was gonna finish that!" Rin yelped, grabbing the sucker out of his brother's hands and sticking it in his mouth before he could think.

"Ew, Rin, why would you do that?"

Yukio grimaced, shuddering at the germs that must be all over that sucker.

'Because it was evidence of the dirty, dirty deed that was done in this room,' Rin thought wildly, tonguing the cherry sucker and tasting the hint of Amaimon still on it.

"Er, I don't like wasting food?"

Yukio shook his head at his twin's weird behavior but didn't question it further, heading out the door into the hallway.

Rin dragged his tongue over the sucker and followed Yukio, trying and failing to get his mind off of Amaimon.

He really hoped the remedial class was something distracting.

* * *

Poor Rin ;)

Thanks for reading. Let me know what you guys thought!


	3. He Says He's An Otaku

In other news, Rin is tormented by the crippling desire to either punch Mephisto in the face or... actually, there is no or.

Enjoy!

* * *

Rin grinned in pride, clapping along with the rest of the guys for Izumo and Shiemi after they'd taken out the demon in the girl's restroom in an amazing display of teamwork.

His friends really were the best.

"What are you moron's doing?"

Izumo tried and failed to hide her blush as she took in the outfits the boys had on.

Shiemi had her hands against her face to hide her own blush, "uh- um, thank you for showing support, everyone!"

"Anything for you two," Shima smiled, winking at the girls and twirling the pigtails he'd acquired to go along with the girl's school uniform he'd donned.

"Yes, well, we couldn't let you go in there alone," Yukio said, pushing at his glasses, now framed by the long black hair of his wig, "I'm sorry we weren't able to get ready in time to help out. Good work."

Rin tugged at his skirt, trying to get it to cover more of his legs and feeling really thankful he'd gone with the stockings to hide the rest.

It was… really drafty. He had no idea how the girls wore these things every day.

They called it a night and split up to change back and head home, yet another of the school's seven mysteries taken care of.

Rin pulled up his pants, happy to have something between him and the air again.

He and Yukio ended up cleaning the room when they got back and Rin finally felt a tension he hadn't realized he'd been holding ease as he found no evidence of his earlier activities with Amaimon in the room.

He fell into a deep sleep, for once not troubled by heated dreams.

The next morning came and with it the usual boring regular classes before he was released to go to cram classes and deal with the next of the seven mysteries. It turned out to be a simple case of a possessed Mephisto statue that Rin took care of by beheading, which was much more therapeutic than he'd expected.

The trouble was the dreams were back that night. Rin had, had to take an extra long shower just so he wouldn't embarrass himself with any weird noises in his sleep that Yukio might catch. He'd found release thinking about Amaimon's fanged mouth going down on him again and clenched his jaw shut to avoid crying out, wishing the earth king was there in the shower with him.

It was another quiet night after that, although Rin was a little concerned because Yukio was sleeping poorly and had woken up late that day, looking shaken by something. Not of course that he told Rin anything about it, that being the nature of their relationship these days.

Rin sighed, depressed as he felt the gap between himself and his brother widen ever further, no matter what he tried to do to repair it.

Hopefully this next mystery would give him another chance to see what was eating at Yukio.

He found the meeting point to be a strange gallery room with framed portraits lining the oval walls far above their heads.

"So, which mystery is this supposed to be?"

Rin looked around in curiosity along with the rest of the exwires. The portraits were seriously creepy, who even kept such weird things?

"Aw, are you lost doggy? So cute!"

'Dog?' Rin glanced over at the soft coo coming from Izumo and froze.

He swore Mephisto smirked at him before a cloud of pink smoke poofed into existence and Izumo found her chin gripped by the purple gloved hand of their principal.

"I always try to be ubiquitous, you know," Mephisto winked down at the shocked girl.

"Ah!"

Rin felt his heart drop into his shoes as he watched Izumo scurry away from the demon king.

All that time spent avoiding the headmaster and now he was right in the same room as him? How was he going to be able to focus on the mission when he was right there? Smirking with those deadly green eyes and mocking him with every breath he took.

Rin could smell him, the scent bringing him straight back to the dark room and that pink cushy bed he'd come to in after snapping out of his demonic state. He found himself licking his suddenly dry lips, zoning out as he thought of the dominant demon looming over him and pinning him to the mattress.

"Where's professor Okumura?"

The question from Shima snapped Rin out of his memories.

"I'll be substituting todays lesson," Mephisto said, guileless smile spreading across his face, "I'm afraid professor Okumura received an urgent summons from the Vatican and had to leave."

Was that a smirk? Rin scowled when Mephisto met his eyes, although the principal didn't acknowledge him any further, something Rin couldn't tell if he was upset or relieved about.

Rin tried to focus as Mephisto told them about their last mystery. Apparently, the other remaining two were Shiemi's house and a prank collection of Mephisto's so they didn't need to worry about them

He had to get this fight over with as soon as possible and get away from Mephisto before he said or did something he'd regret, especially with the other exwires around.

Immediately pulling out the Koma sword and cutting the portrait wasn't his finest moment but Rin wasn't in his right mind. It was good that Konekomaru was on top of things and managed to build them a battle plan to follow.

The whole time he kept feeling the elder demon's presence like an itch at his back he couldn't scratch, trying not to squirm, though he was pretty sure he failed.

And Rin made sure to keep his tail hidden the whole time, damn Mephisto anyways. He wasn't going to give the headmaster any reason to come after him about that again like Amaimon had done.

He had to burn off all this excess energy.

The fight concluded, all the possessed portraits meeting a simultaneous end and the demonic entity fading with a shriek.

Rin panted at something more than the exertion, though he pretended that was all it was. It hadn't been a long fight, so he was keyed up still and the adrenaline wouldn't let him relax yet.

The he noticed the sound of clapping and shot a glare over to Mephisto who'd been playing a video game on the staircase while he waited for them to finish the challenge.

"Well done, exwires!" Mephisto appeared in a cloud of unnecessary sparkles, "we should celebrate with some monja!"

"Ah-hem," Bon coughed in exaggeration, "isn't there something you should tell us?"

"Of course," Mephisto smiled, "my thoughts are that it's nice to be young, still."

Rin stayed behind the rest of his friends as far away from Mephisto as he could get without the others noticing something was up. Why were they still here? He fidgeted, shuffling from side to side and rubbing at his arms as the others chattered excitedly about going to get celebratory dinner.

He didn't want celebratory dinner, he wanted to get out of there!

Rin sighed in shaky relief when the group turned to exit until a polite cough came from Mephisto.

"Rin, aren't you forgetting something?"

"What?" Rin squeaked out, blushing as his voice broke over the word. The headmaster never referred to his students in anything but a professional way. Always calling them by the last names. Would his friends suspect something at the personal way he'd been addressed?

No, Rin exhaled. They knew Mephisto was technically his caretaker, so it was okay if he was informal with him, right?

"I believe there was a reward for your completing the seven mysteries for me?" Mephisto smirked, "or did that student no longer need the eyedrops anymore?"

Before Rin could say anything to that, the smug bastard addressed the rest of the students.

"Please, feel free to head home to clean up and get ready to eat in, say, an hour. I have something I need Mr. Okumura for but I shall send you the details of the location soon."

'Oh god, he was planning this,' Rin felt like crying in frustration. Mephisto had him cornered- again- and he couldn't escape without the anti-demon-seeing eyedrops for Godaain. He damn well knew the headmaster could have gotten those drops for him right there without the fuss of holding him back.

Which meant Mephisto wanted him here, alone, for another reason.

Rin held in a whimper as he watched Bon close the door behind him and heard the conversation fade until there was nothing but the suffocating silence of the portrait room.

Was he going to do something here? Right in the middle of the school? Rin shivered at the thought, imagining being pressed down to the cool marble floor by the elder demon or against a wall, knowing Mephisto was more than strong enough to hold him there without trouble.

"Well? Come along then."

Rin gave a full body flinch when Mephisto's voice echoed in the silent room and shook him from his spiraling thoughts.

"Where?" Rin managed to rasp out, turning around in a jerky move and finding Mephisto's gaze burning into his, though the demon was already near the door at the other side of the room.

"Ah, it appears I left the eyedrops in my office, so we'll have to head there to get them," Mephisto said and, if it was possible, his gaze became even more predatory than usual.

If being caught in Amaimon's gaze made him feel like a mouse before a snake, then Mephisto's was like a great dragon eyeing down a pile of gold it wished to add to its hoard. And Rin was the unaware pile of gold without a knight to defend him.

"Can't you just… poof us there?" Rin hesitated at saying that. On the one hand, the sooner he got those eyedrops and got out the better. But on the other hand, that meant Mephisto could teleport him anywhere and he'd already been at the mercy of that technique twice now. Who knew where he'd end up if he went with the demon king again.

"Hmm, in a rush, are we?" Mephisto called back over his shoulder as he led the way down the hallway, "we're such a short walk to the office from here I thought I'd stretch my legs. The life of a headmaster means I so rarely get to leave my desk, you know."

Rin groaned in silence at the torturous path to the office, staying as far away from Mephisto as he could without losing sight of him.

It didn't help that, in the enclosed space he could still smell the distinct scent of the demon, even amongst all the other fading scents of the students and teachers who'd walked the hallway earlier that day.

And the bastard wasn't even looking at him. Or even acknowledging him in any way!

Was it better or worse to have Mephisto's attention on him? Rin wondered in helpless frustration.

With Amaimon things were simple. The earth king was very obvious about what he wanted from Rin, no dicing words or hidden implications from that end except for the occasional cultural misunderstandings.

Mephisto was a complete mystery. Everything out of his mouth had a double or triple meaning and it was impossible to know what he was thinking at any given moment.

They had reached the doors to Mephisto's office and by that point Rin was more keyed up than when they'd begun. His clothes felt too tight and he plucked at his tie, wishing he could take it off.

Once again, he found himself shut in a room with a demon king and no one around to hear his screams.

And this time there was no threat of someone walking in on them to keep the demon at bay.

Rin waited near the front of the desk, refusing to meet Mephisto's face and staring with blind eyes at the miscellaneous papers scattered on the wooden surface.

"Now where did I put that?"

Mephisto dug around in his desk, tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth in concentration.

Before Rin could think of a believable way to self-combust on the spot- hard to accomplish when he couldn't be hurt by his own flames- to put himself out of his misery, Mephisto let out a sound of triumph.

"Here we go," Mephisto shook a small glass vial in his hand but, when Rin reached out to snatch it and run, he pulled it away.

"Oh, come on," Rin groaned, face falling at the look of glee he received at his complaint.

Mephisto tutted, poofing the vial away and bringing what looked like a photograph out instead, though it was turned towards the elder demon so Rin couldn't see what was on it.

"I couldn't help but notice you exwires chose to solve one of the mysteries in a rather interesting way."

Rin knew there was a point to this conversation and he also knew he wasn't going to like it one bit.

"So, what? We solved all of them."

Mephisto smiled down at the photo in his hand, the look somehow sinister, before putting it face down on the desk and sliding it towards Rin.

"I quite approve of your methods, actually."

Rin held his breath as he flipped the photo over.

"Why do you have this?" Rin screeched, clutching the photo to his chest as if to hide it from the other's sight, "how do you have this?"

It was a picture of their group dressed in the girls' school uniform, same short skirt and thigh-high stockings Rin had been in the night before.

"Oh?" Mephisto vanished to reappear at Rin's back and he found his hand extended up to eye level so Mephisto could look at the picture over his shoulder.

"I think it's a lovely photo, one I'll cherish forever."

Rin knew he was blushing. But, also, it felt really nice to be pressed up against Mephisto, the tall demon enveloping him in that ridiculous cloak he wore.

"Did you know?" Mephisto said right next to his ear, breath tickling the pointed tip, "you still smell like Amaimon."

He found the photo plucked out of his grasp to vanish into the air and himself turned around to be crowded against the desk, the edge biting into his spine and tail in an uncomfortable way.

And of all the dumb ways he could have responded to that, all Rin could think to say was, "but I showered."

"You still don't think like a demon," Mephisto reprimanded, though he didn't seem very concerned with that, eyes trailing up and down Rin's body, "it will take more than a shower to wash away his claim on you."

Mephisto leaned down to breathe into the crook of his neck, sending shivers across Rin's skin.

"Any demon with half a brain could tell who you belonged to if they saw you."

Rin didn't know that, actually, "how do I get rid of it, then?"

That was both the right and wrong thing to say and Rin found his chin tilted up to meet Mephisto's gaze, "why, you replace it with another demon's claim."

"Oh, god," Rin whimpered out loud as he saw Mephisto raise his hand, knowing that when he snapped his fingers he wasn't going to like what happened.

The snap came and Rin flinched, eyes shutting in apprehension at what he would see when he opened them.

It felt drafty, all of a sudden, and Rin felt his stomach sink as he realized what that snap had done.

He cracked open his eyes and looked down, feeling his heart jump at seeing a skirt in place of his pants, his shoes nowhere to be found, and those white, thigh high stockings back on his legs. There didn't seem to be any boxers, or anything to replace them, either.

"Yes, I like this look very much on you," Mephisto hummed, hand on his chin as he considered the sight before him with obvious glee.

The only thing Rin could respond with to that was, "I knew it, you really are an otaku!"

Mephisto tsk'd shaking his head, "I thought we've been over that already?"

Rin was about to argue that when he was silenced by a gloved fingertip on his lips and his heart stuttered in his chest.

"Now, no more talking."

Rin's legs were gripped and hauled up around Mephisto's hips, bringing them flush together and Rin yelped. He tugged the skirt that had threatened to slip up way too far back down as far as it would go, which wasn't far enough at all.

His hands were so close to where their hips joined and Rin froze, not daring to move lest he encourage the other demon.

Not that he needed the encouragement.

Mephisto placed one hand on his hip, steadying him on the desk. The other gripped at the back of his head, stretching his neck back to better reveal it to the demon.

He was beginning to suspect that demons had a thing for vulnerable necks.

Rin squinted up at Mephisto to see he was being watched with avaricious green eyes, really not helping with the dragon comparison that Rin had applied earlier.

The rest of his thoughts were washed away at the slow grind of the elder demon's hips on his bare skin.

Rin gave up on holding the skirt, letting it bunch up at the movements, instead bringing his hands to grab at the two arms holding him in place.

He'd had this fantasy, too.

Well, maybe not the dressed in a skirt part but the demon king's desk had featured in quite a few of his wet dreams.

Either Mephisto was reading his mind or Rin was just having a lucky day.

The demon had given into the temptation of his proffered neck and was licking at it as if searching for a place to bite into.

Rin gasped out as Mephisto decided to start sucking at the skin at his collarbone instead, moving on to any other spots he could reach and eventually unbuttoning his shirt to access even more Rin's skin.

It hurt, but not really. Rin couldn't think of a way to explain the feeling, rubbing against the hips over his and arching his neck back to give Mephisto more access. Every sharp suction sent an electric current straight to his stomach, building a steady pressure he ached to relieve.

The demon king pulled back, surveying his work with a satisfied rumble.

Rin felt an answering purr go through his chest, surprised at the sound he didn't realize he could even make.

His hands were white knuckled on Mephisto's arms, shaking at the sensations coursing through him but unable to do anything else.

"It's such a pity you'll heal those lovely marks away," Mephisto murmured, clawed finger tracing along the bruises he'd left like he was connecting stars into constellations.

Rin sighed at the caress, his heart thudding against his ribcage so hard he imagined Mephisto could feel it too, even through his gloves.

Mephisto smiled at the sound, his face kind. Not that Rin trusted the look, but it was still nice to see, somehow.

"I suppose I'll just have to keep applying them."

Rin tensed at the growled promise, seeing the points of Mephisto's fangs peak just over his bottom lip.

He watched, unable to breath, as the demon slowly tugged his gloves off his hands with his teeth, pinning him with his eyes the whole time.

Another whimper escaped him as Mephisto stepped back to unlatch his cloak, letting it drop to the floor and removing his shirt and scarf soon after.

Rin was mesmerized as more of the demon king's skin was revealed to him until he stood before him in nothing but his tail.

He wanted to touch but he didn't know how, ending up leaning back on his hands as tremors shook through his body and he panted at the sight.

"I think I'll be leaving that skirt on you," Mephisto said once he'd let Rin suffer long enough, "remove your shirt, please."

Rin bit at his lips, blushing even though he'd kinda expected that order when he'd wound up in the skirt in the first place.

But still his hands moved to slip his shirt off, already half-way there thanks to Mephisto's earlier actions. The air made his bare skin shiver, though he never really felt cold due to the fire at his core.

Mephisto's eyes never left him, seeming to be waiting for some unspoken signal.

"You've become oddly quiet, Rin," he mocked, eyes shining with a merciless delight, "cait sidhe got your tongue?"

"No," Rin muttered, wondering what the other was getting at.

"No?" Mephisto repeated, "but I've heard from Amaimon how insistent you were that he ask for your permission to play beforehand. I simply thought you might do the same with me."

"Does it matter?" Rin questioned, angry that the other was holding his previous inhibitions over him, making him spell out his confused thoughts.

The sneer he got told him what he suspected. Mephisto was just doing this to tease him about his human hold-ups.

"Of course," the damn demon insisted, "consent is very important to us. How else could we possess bodies if not with their permission?"

"So. What do you say when asking for something? Hmm?"

Rin glowered but knew he had to answer if he wanted things to move forward, speaking the word through gritted teeth.

"Please."

That was all it took.

Rin was flat on his back on the desk in the time it took him to blink, feeling papers crinkling beneath his shoulders.

Luckily, he'd had the forethought to unwind his tail ahead of time so it wasn't trapped under him, instead trailing to the side and sweeping other important papers onto the floor.

Mephisto was once again between his legs, hands at his hips in a firm grip and Rin winced, waiting for the discomfort he knew had to come before the pleasure.

He'd missed that part of it the first time around, his mind gone to his demonic instincts then. But he was entirely lucid now and the anticipation of pain was all he could concentrate on.

Once again, Mephisto seemed to know the path his thoughts had taken.

"I suppose not everyone can be a masochist like Amaimon," he said, voice fond, "there's not much we can do about preparing you, that ever so useful demonic healing lessens the effectiveness of such measures."

"That's not helpful," Rin griped, shooting a glare at the smirking demon.

"You'll want to thank the clever inventions of humans, then" Mephisto said, snapping his fingers to summon a small bottle, "they've created such wonderful things to ease the way, so to speak."

Mephisto let the bottle float above his hand with his demonic powers, the cap unscrewing to release an unscented oil onto his waiting fingers.

Rin felt his mouth go dry, throat clicking as he swallowed while Mephisto coated his length in the oil.

He couldn't help the needy sound that exited his mouth when Mephisto's hand disappeared under his skirt and touched his entrance, making him jump at the strange feeling.

The demon didn't tease for long and Rin whined at the uncomfortable sensation of being stretched, dropping his head to his chest and clenching his eyes shut in the hopes it would be over soon.

"Exquisite," came the dark sound of Mephisto's voice, rolling over Rin's pointed ears and making him shake at the desire he heard there.

He cracked his eyes open, some strange power within him needing to see what happened next.

Mephisto was waiting for him, it seemed, only removing his fingers once he saw Rin watching.

The demon king brought his hands to his thighs at the bottom of the skirt to slide it upwards until Rin could see himself fully and he flushed at the sight.

That was nothing to the sight of Mephisto pressing against his entrance and he groaned aloud as the blunt head was pushed into him, one slow inch at a time.

Rin's head dropped back to the desk and he brought his arm over his eyes, moaning at the fullness when Mephisto bottomed out, pressing flush to his skin.

His back arched and his tail coiled, trying to adjust to the strange feeling and unable to with the way his body healed.

When he looked again from under his arm it was to see Mephisto's ears had lengthened, his features taking on his more demonic appearance, a good indication the demon king was letting his control slip.

Rin couldn't wait anymore, the tension killing him as the heat in his stomach built to overwhelming levels.

"Please, Mephisto."

The demon cocked his head like a predator considering its prey, voice coming out in a rough growl, "what was that, Rin?"

"Move!"

Rin's frustrated snarl broke off with a cry as Mephisto began pounding into him without warning.

"Hah- ah!"

Rin lost himself in the rhythm, hands coming up to cover his eyes with his palms as he tried and failed to bring his hips up to match the brutal pace being set.

This was what he'd come to that first time, the sight of Mephisto slamming into Amaimon, and it had consumed his thoughts ever since.

It was so much more wonderful than he'd imagined.

His mind flashed back to what else the other two demons had done that night and he eyed his thrashing tail.

As if sensing his thoughts, his tail moved to drape over his chest, writhing over his heated skin like another hand.

An animalistic growl snapped his attention to Mephisto only to find the demon focused utterly on his tail as if hypnotized.

"You have no idea what you're doing," the demon king said, guttural voice heightening Rin's senses and winding him up further.

One hand remained on his hips, keeping him from doing anything except lay there while Mephisto took him.

Rin bit his lip hard enough to draw blood as the other black-clawed hand came to stroke down his tail in a possessive move.

Mephisto licked his lips, panting around a grin at the sight of the blood. The demon drew his hand up Rin's tail and Rin thought he was going to pass out at the heady wave rolling through him.

His mouth fell open as Mephisto swept a thumb over the already healed cut he'd made in his bottom lip, the demon bringing it up to lick away the gathered blood with his own moan of pleasure at the taste.

He was harder than he'd ever been in his life and he hadn't even been touched there yet.

Rin whimpered again at the thought before he got an idea that made him sob even louder.

His tail traced along his taut stomach until it wound around his length and he had to bite off a scream at the new feeling.

'Oh, god, that was such a good idea.'

Rin was a mess, trying to bring his hips up into the coils of his tail and at the same time thrust back onto Mephisto and unable to coordinate enough to do both.

Looking up at Mephisto from beneath his sweat soaked bangs, Rin gave up trying to hold back his moans. The way the demon king was watching him, more undone than he'd ever seen him before, Rin couldn't but do anything but reciprocate.

Mephisto finally brought his own tail into play, giving up on hiding it from Rin.

The demon arched it behind him and Rin knew the relief he must be feeling to finally stretch it out after having it wound up all day.

Rin felt a sympathetic purr roll through his chest as Mephisto winced at a kink he must have had in the tail.

Mephisto had slowed his thrusts, instead focused on bringing the tail to Rin's lips, a silent request, or more likely a command, considering who he was, for Rin to get to work.

Rin hesitated, only having been the receiver of Mephisto and Amaimon's attentions when they last taught him about a demon's tail.

But at the impatient look in Mephisto's eyes Rin opened his mouth obligingly and dragged his tongue over the tip of the tail he soon found there.

The low hiss of appreciation from Mephisto told him all he needed to know about his technique.

Experimentally, Rin suckled at the tail watching as Mephisto's eyes flutter closed and grinning as he realized he had been the one to ruin the king's composure.

It didn't take long for the demon to adjust to the added sensation, shaking his head as he came back to himself and resuming his pace.

Rin's mouth was filled with tail and he had to resort to breathing harsh pants through his nose, feeling light-headed at the reduced oxygen.

He couldn't take it anymore.

Rin felt his own tail clench around his length and his walls clench around Mephisto as he came, screaming around the tail in his mouth and clawing at the wooden desk beneath him.

Mephisto let out a growl, the deep sound sending a thrill through Rin's veins, some primal part of him responding to it and making him release an answering growl until they mixed together, reverberating through the room.

The elder demon stilled over him and came, then, hands bruising Rin's hips as he filled him in a hot rush.

The buzzing in his ears slowly faded and he listened to their mingled panting, tail slowly unwinding from his softened length to drape, limp, over the edge of the desk.

Mephisto groaned as he slid out of Rin, trailing his release that Rin blushed to realize was now coming out of him without anything to stop it.

Rin refused to deal with that reality, dropping his head back to the desk and closing his eyes, savoring the satisfaction that left him a in boneless heap.

"Much as it delights me to see you spread on my desk like this, I believe we have a celebratory dinner to attend."

'Cele-what?" Rin grumbled at having to think so soon, opening one eye to glare at the smug face of the demon king standing before him, clearly not in any rush to leave, either, despite his words.

"Unless you want to go looking like that, you may want to shower. Not that I would mind, you understand, but humans have odd ideas about such things."

Now Rin was up and glaring, crossing his arms over his chest at the utter nerve and hissing out, "you're the bastard that told them to meet in an hour!"

When all he got for that reminder was a widening of Mephisto's lips in a Cheshire grin, Rin huffed and got off the desk, wincing at the soreness from laying on the hard surface for so long and the weird sensation of room temperature liquid running down his stocking-clad legs.

He stalked up to Mephisto, still glaring, "okay, so where's your shower? Because I am not walking home like this and I'll burn your room down if you even think about suggesting it."

"Oh?"

Rin pulled some of his flames to his hand, the control coming so, so easy to him with the proper motivation- namely, spite.

Mephisto held his hands up in mock surrender, "you make an excellent point."

The demon snapped his fingers and Rin found himself transported to a luxurious bathroom, marble tiling and expensive fixtures telling him exactly who's room he was in.

He turned to see Mephisto leaning against the door, still looking like a giant satisfied dragon and still very naked.

"I am going to take a shower," Rin growled out, stabbing a finger at the smirking demon, "and you are going to keep your hands to yourself because you deserve it after deciding an hour was a long enough time, you hear?"

"So cruel," Mephisto pouted, poorly hiding a smile at Rin's demand, "and here I was thinking you would be in a much better mood after I was so nice to you. Very ungrateful of you, Rin."

Rin offered him a final glare, turning on his heel to head to the shower and giving Mephisto one last order.

"And my clothes and the damn eyedrops better be on the counter when I'm done!"

* * *

The exwires watched in utter confusion as Rin spent the dinner eating Mephisto out of house and home in holy retribution.

* * *

One more chapter to go ;)


	4. One's Sad Two's A Crowd Three's A Circus

One's Lonely Two's A Crowd And Three's A Circus

A/N Amaimon is an Absolute Bastard™ and Mephisto is a Smug Bastard™ but what else is new? Also, Rin still needs a date to the festival dance and he can't look Shiemi in the eyes without thinking about all the hot demon tail he's been getting. Obviously, the only solution is to get Yukio to go with her, not that his brother is going to make that easy. And as for himself, Rin will just hope a random girl student will see him and decide she just has to go with him to the dance, no other will do. Yeah, right.

Also, Rin, literal-ball-of-sunshine's smile is irresistible- and he looks like a snack in a suit, but what else is new?

Okay, guys, last chapter for this because I definitely don't want to deal with all the crazy plot happening past this point in aoe lol

Here's some tooth-rotting smluff (smut-fluff, thanks for the new favorite term, guest reviewer jlol) to finish things off.

I hope it was as good for you as it was for me ;)

* * *

"You're going to go with Shiemi to the dance, Yukio. And not just because I can't look her in the face after what I've done this past week but because I care about you and want you to be happy."

Is what Rin wanted to say to his stubborn twin if he knew he could get away without having to explain what, exactly, it was he'd been doing, or rather, who.

If someone had told him a week ago that Shiemi was going to join their group as a new student and thus be eligible to go to the couples dance at the festival that weekend and that Rin would for some reason- not- want to go with her, well, it would have sounded insane.

As it turned out, Rin thought he might be going a little crazy.

He loved his friend and his twin without reservation, which meant he wanted them to be happy at all costs.

Up until this point he'd had a colossal crush on Shiemi, still did, to an extent. But it no longer felt right, or even the same, as it used to.

And so, the next best thing, he thought, was for Yukio and Shiemi to be happy. Together. If his two favorite people, who already liked each other but wouldn't admit it, could find happiness then Rin would be okay with that.

It was definitely a certain pair of demon's faults, though, that Rin had changed in such a way that he could no longer see himself with Shiemi, who Rin was convinced had no flaws.

Okay, that wasn't true. Shiemi was a human with all the flaws and perfections that came with being one and Rin was never the type to put someone on an untouchable pedestal. He liked her just fine the way she was and wouldn't change a thing.

But that meant he had to be realistic. And realistically Rin was finding he spent more time thinking about Amaimon and Mephisto than Shiemi nowadays and it didn't seem to be changing any time soon.

Now he just had to help Yukio see the light, so to speak, and his brother was being ridiculous.

"I don't have time to go to the festival," Yukio said, eyes narrowing, "I've got too many worries as it is to focus on that."

Rin crossed his arms, staring his twin down from his side of their dorm room.

"You don't even have to stick around, just go with her so she has someone she feels comfortable with there, you know how shy she can be."

Yukio matched him, "then why don't you go with her?"

'Shit, why don't I go with her?' Rin hesitated at why the thought made him react with an automatic 'NO' in his gut.

"Er, I've got someone…already."

'I don't have anyone, why did I say that?' Rin cursed his lack of brain to mouth filter because as far as he knew he definitely didn't know any girl classmate besides Shiemi who was available to go with him or would even want to, for that matter.

All he got was a raised brow from his brother who knew all his friends and therefor knew he didn't have any other eligible partners in the group.

"You don't know her," Rin grumbled, averting his eyes form the judgmental look he was getting.

With how little time Yukio spent around him it might as well be true, Rin sighed, feeling the typical hurt that sprung up whenever he remembered that fact.

Something of the hurt must have shown on his face because Yukio blinked and studied him.

"You…really want me to go with Shiemi, huh? I thought you liked her?"

Rin scratched at his dark hair, trying to put his feelings for Shiemi into words.

"I do. But…not like that anymore."

Yukio frowned as he tried to puzzle that out, "you've changed, Rin."

"Yeah, well, you too," Rin said, standing firm in the face of Yukio's hypocrisy.

"Fine," Yukio sighed, capitulating, "I'll go with Shiemi to the festival."

"You don't have to make it sound like a chore," Rin shot back.

All he got was a wry grin from Yukio before the other gave some piss poor excuse to leave for the day.

But, Rin had gotten what he wanted, and he hoped Shiemi would have more luck figuring out what was wrong with his brother. She always seemed like she understood him better than Rin ever had.

Once again, a depressing thought, but Rin contented himself with the fact that he had convinced his reclusive brother to join in the fun for once.

Now he just had to worry about finding his own partner for the dance. Somehow.

* * *

"Man, you still don't have anyone yet, Rin?" Shima frowned at him, having been forced to sign on as an usher just to get into the festival since he'd also been unable to find someone to go with.

Rin sighed, slumping into the bean bag chair in Konekomaru and Shima's dorm they'd gotten just for him since he spent so much time there now instead of at his own. Their way of showing support so he didn't have to go home to an empty place.

"I thought Yukio said you did, though?" Koneko questioned. The lucky guy had joined a sutra club and was going with the president to the party.

The half-demon just sighed louder, closing his eyes and leaning his head back, "I just told him that to get him to go to the festival with Shiemi instead of hiding like he usually does."

Rin put up with the jostling and tears of support from Shima for 'sacrificing himself to the greater cause,' or whatever it was he was babbling about.

Koneko sent a sad smile his way, patting his shoulder in encouragement before changing the topic like the true friend he was.

Another day went by, another day closer to the festival.

It was hard not to get excited about the parts of the activities he'd be able to participate in besides the dance. The food stall was coming along perfectly, and Rin couldn't wait to do what he did best, which was cook an amazing meal.

Plus, he'd get to enjoy all the rides at the amusement park, which, after that one mission Amaimon had crashed, he'd yet to go back to.

So, in the end, Rin decided that if he missed that part of the event it wouldn't be the end of the world and he still had a few more years at the school to try again.

The buzzing energy in the opening ceremony brought a wide grin to his face, even when Mephisto made a ridiculous entry, parachuting out of the sky to land on the stage and make his opening announcement.

"Alright, who's hungry?" Rin cheered as he and Godaain began taking orders and their stall opened for business.

Things went off without a hitch.

Then, through the chaos, his nose caught a familiar scent and he looked up, searching the crowd until he saw Mephisto striding past the various stalls, clearly enjoying himself.

Rin grinned up at him when he appeared in front of their stall, already handing him a bowl of the pork miso soup for him to try.

There was something instinctual in him that was very pleased at the thought of providing for the elder demon that Rin didn't think too hard about.

"This is magnificent," the demon praised, eyes crinkling in a smile and Rin felt his tail try to wag despite being hidden under his shirt.

"Tell me, Rin," Mephisto began, handing the bowl back, the slight brush of his gloved fingers against Rin's sending a shiver of through him, "will you also be going to the dance tomorrow night?"

Rin pouted, even Mephisto seemed to have noticed his dilemma and was teasing him over it, not that he expected any different from the demon.

"It just so happens my niece is joining the academy as a student in your year and I thought she might be your plus one to the dance. You can show her around, introduce her to her new classmates. It would be a favor to me, if you could."

Rin froze. A niece? How? And who? He stared up at the Mephisto with an odd sense of betrayal that made him feel stupid because of course the demon had a million secrets that Rin would never know. But, for some reason, this one in particular really bothered him.

"Uh, sure, that would be great," Rin found himself mumbling. It would solve his problem for sure, at least.

"Perfect, I'll let her know to meet you at the entrance, then," Mephisto said, somehow not picking up on Rin's conflicted emotions despite usually being so astute about them.

"As for you," Mephisto indicated Godaain and the rest of the guys from his class working the booth, "I must have this stall set up at the festival square tomorrow night, although you should add more girls, it's far too messy as it is now. Don't worry about equipment and so forth, I have the budget set aside for it."

Rin shook his head, trying to scatter the disruptive thoughts and join in on the excitement now that they could all go to the dance.

"Hey that's pretty lucky, right?" Godaain nudged him, "I wonder what the headmaster's niece looks like. Somehow I can't imagine it."

"Yeah, me neither," Rin responded absently, staring at the retreating back of the demon king.

"But," Godaain hesitated, "most of our classmates will be participating in the party so I don't know how we'll have enough workers."

"Don't worry, I'll go ask Izumo again," Rin promised, trying to cheer him up and hoping she would agree this time around.

"Awesome, you're the best, man!"

Rin smiled, rubbing at his head at the praise and got back to work.

* * *

"You're the only one I can trust with this, Izumo!"

Rin clutched his hands together, imploring Izumo while she blushed and sputtered at his words.

"Fine! I'll be there!"

Rin grinned so hard his mouth hurt, he knew he could count on his friend.

"But I don't trust any of you!"

Rin watched, befuddled as Izumo stalked off with the outfit he'd brought her for when she manned the booth. But, then, Izumo always seemed to keep a distance from the rest of the exwires and Rin hadn't been able to puzzle out why, yet.

He ran home to get ready for the party, putting aside the mystery that was Izumo for the time being.

He got back to his dorm and stopped as soon as he opened the door to his room, taking a heavy breath and feeling a purr try to force its way out. The room smelled like Amaimon.

Rin looked around the small space, hoping the demon was still around even though the scent was fading. He must have been there when Rin was out finding Izumo.

But there was something on the bed that hadn't been there before he'd left and he frowned, moving over to it.

He blinked, staring down at the folded suit upon which sat another one of those flowery-smelling cards Mephisto liked to use.

Rin used his nails to cut open the envelope, recognizing Mephisto's writing.

'Rin, thank you for agreeing to take my niece to the dance tonight. I've taken the liberty of procuring you a suit for the occasion. Please, wear it. Johann Faust.'

Rin scowled at the note, its brevity and lack of explanation pissing him off, when usually Mephisto was too wordy.

Still, Rin brought the card up to smell it, scenting out the demon king under all the perfume, though it made him sneeze. He tucked the card into his desk along with the first one he'd received from Mephisto. If Yukio ever saw the cards he'd really think something was wrong with Rin but that didn't stop him from hoarding them.

Card safely hidden, Rin went to inspect the suit.

It was really expensive feeling. Not that Rin knew much about that, seeing as he'd been raised in a church and had never owned an expensive thing in his life besides the heirloom Koma sword. But he could still tell that he'd have to be extra careful not to ruin the suit or he'd probably be paying off his debt to Mephisto for the rest of his immortal life.

He rubbed his hands over the smooth fabric, careful to not catch his nails on it.

Although…

Rin brought the suit up to his nose and breathed in.

Yep, Amaimon had been the poor errand boy. Rin grinned, pulling away and unfolding the fabric to see what he'd be wearing.

Rin finished buttoning everything up, adjusting the slim three-piece suit and admiring himself in the mirror.

The half-demon slid his hands down his chest, following the tapered lines of the suit to tug at the bottom of it and smiled, feeling oddly embarrassed.

He looked really good.

Like, this was definitely not his school uniform he was wearing. Everything fit perfect on his frame, hugging more like a second skin than the semi-baggy clothes he normally wore.

Could something be considered indecent if it covered everything?

Rin shook his head, shaking the awkward thoughts out of his head and going to try to tame his hair into a manageable form. If Mephisto's niece was anything like him, she'd be a stickler for presentation and proper attire.

Looking as good as he was going to get, Rin headed over to the festival entrance, trying to hide how self-conscious he felt every time someone looked his way when he passed them on the sidewalk.

He was almost there when he realized it might be polite to get a flower for his date. He'd always been a romantic and, before, when he'd first heard about the festival and had thought he'd be going with Shiemi, he'd imagined tucking a flower into her hair and then leading her to dance.

Girls liked flowers, right?

Rin glanced around, hoping to spot something.

There! A small flower stand lined up along with a few others on the sidewalk, selling things geared towards couples.

Rin came away with a clipped red carnation tucked into his chest pocket and an extra red chrysanthemum he'd just liked the look of for some reason, then went to wait near the entrance.

He watched the stream of happy couples heading through the arching gates, wondering how he was supposed to pick someone he'd never seen out in the crowd or if he'd even gotten there at the right time, seeing as he'd been given no information.

Hands came up to cover his eyes from behind him, a warm body pressing against his back and a chin resting on his shoulder.

"Guess who."

Rin felt his breath catch, heart jolting in his chest.

"Amai-"

He found one of the hands wrapped over his mouth, cutting him off.

The purr going through the body behind him had Rin going lax in the hold, joy welling up through him to push past the confusion.

"You look- edible-," came the dark rumble by his ear.

Rin shivered as his neck was nuzzled into, feeling the hint of fangs scraping at the line of skin showing just over his collar.

'Maybe I'll skip the party,' Rin thought, shaking at the thought of what he could be doing instead.

Not able to resist anymore, Rin turned in Amaimon's arms only to stop short with a squeak, blush rising to his cheeks so fast he felt light-headed.

"Hi, I'm Ambrosia Faust. It's nice to meet you, Rin Okumura."

Was he dead? Rin gaped at the demon in front of him that had to be Amaimon, right?

Rin took a cautious sniff, wondering if his nose was playing a trick on him.

Seeing his confusion brought a smirk that was all Amaimon, however, and the scent matched that of the earth king.

What his appearance was telling Rin was entirely different.

Gone was the ragged maroon coat, the mis-matching patterns of his striped shirt, green tights, and dotted shorts.

In its place was an elegant black dress draping over the tall demon's lithe frame with a slit going all the way up to the jut of his hips on one side to reveal shapely legs. Had the demon shaved? Was he even wearing underwear? Rin wanted to find out, eyes traveling down to see that yes, Amaimon was taller, strappy black stilettos giving him another six inches to Rin's already average height.

The earth king brought a gloved hand up to Rin's hair, teasing with the wisps that had escaped his attempts to tame them and letting him get his fill of looking.

A tasteful black choker hid any hint of an Adam's apple and somehow- Rin was betting Mephisto had something to do with it- Amaimon's hair was up in a graceful bun, loose strands of hair framing a face perfectly made up to accentuate the sharp cut of his cheekbones and suddenly fuller-looking lips.

Rin swallowed, mouth gone dry and mind blank, unable to think past the fact that Amaimon made for a stunning girl.

He opened his mouth to say something but all that came out was a croak.

Instead of trying to find words that wouldn't come, Rin found his hand moving up his chest to grasp at the flower he'd put there.

Amaimon blinked as Rin shoved his hand forward, red carnation held before him like a peace offering.

Rin had his eyes clenched shut so he only felt the demon pluck the flower from his hand, not knowing how he would take the gesture.

"What am I supposed to do with this?"

Rin felt his heart drop, opening his eyes to see Amaimon examining the flower pinched between his fingertips.

"Ah, it's for, or it was supposed to be…" Rin trailed off helplessly, reaching out to take the flower back and tucking it into Amaimon's hair by his pointed ear instead of trying to explain human courtship practices to the demon.

Amaimon let him do all this with more patience than he'd ever shown so Rin forced himself to take a deep breath before he made a complete idiot of himself.

"What's going on?" Rin gave up trying to figure out what his life even was at that point, hoping Amaimon would take pity on him and explain.

The sly smile he got from the earth king did funny things to his heart, especially seeing the hint of a fang indenting the dark red lipstick he was wearing.

"I know you're not very good at remembering names, so I'll tell you again."

Gold eyes gleamed, looking so much more intense with the smoky eyeshadow highlighting them.

"My name is Ambrosia Faust, niece to Johann Faust. It's a pleasure to meet you, Rin Okumura."

Rin whimpered, body weak as he realized what, in fact, was going on.

"Ah," Rin coughed, trying again to form a coherent sentence, "will you- are you ready to head in, then?"

Amaimon's lips curled, the demon not even bothering to hide how much enjoyment he was getting out of tormenting Rin.

Still, he held out his arm for Rin and Rin scrambled to take it, tucking his arm in the crook and shivering at their closeness.

The strangeness of being so close to the demon king absorbed Rin the whole way to the gate. It wasn't that he hadn't been near the other before then, but never in such a human way.

Every other time had been as a way for Amaimon to try to bring Rin's demonic instincts to the surface and do away with his human mannerisms. This was a complete one-eighty of the previous pattern of behavior Rin had grown accustomed to.

In other words, "was this Mephisto's idea?"

He saw Amaimon look at him out of the corner of his eye, expression giving him no hints as to whether he was right or wrong.

"I didn't want those humans thinking they could put their hands on you."

Rin stopped, blinking up at him at that possessive statement, "wait, are you saying you went through the trouble of enrolling in classes and dressing up like this because you thought someone might think I'm datable?"

Amaimon narrowed his eyes at him, "you have no idea what you look like right now, do you?"

Rin dropped his stare, "I thought I told you, nobody likes me like that. At least, not humans."

He found his chin gripped and pulled up to meet Amaimon's gaze, the earth king looking furious, "and I thought I told- you- they don't deserve you."

Rin grinned at the demon, reaching up to grasp the hand at his chin, bringing it away but not letting go. If the only beings on Assiah who thought of him that way were two immortal demon kings, then he thought he would be okay with that.

He squeezed the hand in his before continuing to the entrance, pulling out his student ID to present to the usher.

"Rin?"

Rin turned at the squawked shout, realizing he had forgotten something very important.

Shima and Bon were both ushering at the dance and they had both spotted Rin with his date.

He could feel the tension in Amaimon's taut arm and clenched fist, tight around his. Though he knew it wasn't because the demon was nervous, more like murderous.

Rin scrambled to do damage control, tugging Amaimon over to his friends with a disarming smile on his face, making sure to keep the demon behind him to prevent any unexpected attacks.

"Hey guys, this is Ambrosia Faust. Mephisto's niece. She's a student here in our year now and I'm showing her around."

Rin kept his smile plastered to his face in the empty silence that answered him.

"Oh my god, Rin," Shima whispered, eyes bugging at what he was seeing.

Rin winced, could they see through the ruse?

"You didn't tell me you were going with this complete babe to the dance tonight!"

Bon still wasn't talking but a suspicious blush had started creeping up his face.

Rin turned to make sure Amaimon wasn't about to shred them apart at the disrespect and saw the demon staring down at the two exwires with a contemptuous sneer on his pretty face.

Before Rin could figure out a way to get out of the conversation and get Amaimon away from Shima's flirtations, Bon spoke up.

"Is this what the headmaster called you away about that night we fought the family portrait demon? To introduce you to, er, Ambrosia?"

Rin blanked, mind short-circuiting as he went back to that night in Mephisto's office.

"Wait," Shima interrupted, looking like he was connecting the dots, "so you really weren't lying to Yukio about having a hot date to the dance. That's so cruel, man, holding out on us like that. Why didn't you introduce us before?"

Rin's brain stuttered back online, and he felt an oddly heated anger building up in his chest at the flirtatious tone in Shima's voice.

He realized he'd begun to growl when Bon looked at him funny and he cut himself off with a cough.

"Sorry, guys, I just didn't know how to bring it up."

"But," Rin stated, tone booking no argument and glare firm to make sure he got his point across, "she's my girlfriend, so keep your hands to themselves, Shima."

So saying, Rin turned around to pull Amaimon into a kiss, hands coming up to either side of the demon's face. He could taste the sweet gloss that had been applied to Amaimon's lips and was a bit surprised the demon hadn't licked it off himself yet.

He hummed in satisfaction as the demon placed his hands at his waist and deepened the kiss, glad his claim had been accepted.

Rin forced himself to pull away before things got awkward. Well, more awkward than they already were.

Amaimon was watching him with a hungry look in his eyes and it took all Rin's will power to turn away from him and back to the stunned faces of his friends.

Shima was the first to recover, clapping and whooping in congratulations, "yeah, Rin! Who knew you had it in ya'? I'm so proud of you."

Bon let out a choked sound, smile fond despite the flush in his cheeks that had yet to subside, "hey, man, I'm glad for you."

"And," Bon turned, serious expression on his face, reaching a hand out to Amaimon to shake, "I look forward to getting to know you, Ambrosia."

Rin gulped, hoping the other recognized the gesture and heaving an inward sigh of relief when the demon king deigned to reciprocate instead of tearing the hand off.

"Right," Rin started, taking Amaimon's hand again, making sure it was the one Bon had touched last to soothe his possessive instincts, "I'm gonna go introduce her to everyone else. I'll see you guys later. Bye!"

He led Amaimon through the crowd until they were out of sight and Rin sighed only to find himself tugged back into Amaimon's chest.

He looked up, hesitant, into the demon's eyes, unaware of how the other had taken that interaction.

"I didn't know how else to get him to stop flirting with you," Rin muttered, shy all of a sudden.

Amaimon gave a slow lick to his plush lips, gaze penetrating, and Rin held his breath while he waited for an answer.

"You staked your claim," his eyes narrowed, "I accept."

Rin didn't understand and then all of a sudden, he did, smiling wide enough to hurt as he reached up to bring Amaimon back into a kiss.

Amaimon was the one to break the kiss, keeping his lips near Rin's to speak, "I want you to fuck me tonight. Will you?"

Rin whined into his mouth at the thought, almost deciding to leave right then before forcing himself to stick to the vague plan he'd decided on the second he'd seen Amaimon in his dress.

"I still need to do two things with you, then we can. Please?" Rin asked, begging the other for patience.

Amaimon frowned at that request but acquiesced with a grudging nod.

Rin smiled at him and led him towards the center where crowds of students were dancing together.

He stopped at the edge of the crowd and turned with his hand outstretched towards Amaimon, "will you dance with me?"

Amaimon quirked a wry smile at him, shaking his head but taking his hand anyway, "do you know how to dance?"

"Nope," Rin chirped, pulling Amaimon back into the thread of the moving crowd, "but I want to dance with you."

The demon king leaned to tuck Rin's head under his chin, reaching down to move Rin's hands to his waist before placing his own arms around Rin's shoulders, swaying against him.

"Mephisto knew you would," Amaimon said, shrugging, "he made me learn."

Rin's breath hitched at the thought of the two demons dancing together.

"Is he here tonight?"

Amaimon turned him around in his arms, directing his attention to one of the buildings with a balcony standing above the pavilion so that it overlooked the whole festival.

Rin searched until his eyes caught the gaze of the demon king of time. Mephisto was leaning on his arms on the wooden railing, staring straight at them and grinning his Cheshire grin.

"Hey, why do you call him Mephisto, too?" Rin suddenly thought to ask. It was something that had been niggling at him ever since he'd learned the demon's true name.

Amaimon scoffed, "Samael goes by whatever name the humans decide to call him in the current century and he insists on us calling him by it so we don't trip up whatever game he's playing at the time. It's a waste of effort to argue with him."

Rin hummed at that, confirming what he'd been thinking, "so wait, does no one know who he is here?"

Amaimon sighed, "no, that's the sad thing. They all know his true name so it's pointless."

Rin sent a mystified look up at Mephisto, "that's so dumb and dramatic."

"Rin!"

Interrupted for the second time that day, although in this case Rin didn't mind as much as Shiemi fought her way through the crowd, pulling Yukio behind her and waving to catch Rin's attention.

He heard a low growl come from Amaimon and Rin smiled up at him, squeezing his hand in reassurance, "I'm yours, remember?"

Amaimon intertwined their fingers, growls subsiding as he watched the two humans approach.

"Who's this, Rin?" Shiemi asked politely, cocking her head in curiosity.

Yukio looked completely lost, eyes taking in the beautiful girl he'd had no idea Rin even knew, so divorced from his life that he'd missed out on the developing relationship.

Rin felt a little smug in the face of his twin's confusion but turned to answer Shiemi.

"This is my girlfriend, Ambrosia. We met a few months ago but just started dating last week when Mephisto introduced us. She's his niece."

"O-oh," Shiemi gasped, happy smile overtaking her face to see the obvious pride Rin took in 'Ambrosia' and blushing at the revelation.

"Mephisto's what?" Yukio narrowed his eyes, suspicion evident as he glared at Amaimon.

The demon king answered in turn, tension singing through his body at the challenge, "that's right. I'll be joining the academy this year."

Rin could only stare. First of all because he could tell the conversation was only going to decline from there and second of all because the voice Amaimon had just spoken with was that of a girl.

Was the thing about speaking in tongues something demons could actually do or was this a hidden talent of Amaimon's Rin had only witnessed just then?

"I see," Yukio clearly didn't see, "I didn't realize the headmaster had siblings he was particularly close to, to take in their children."

Rin felt a headache build at his sibling's pointed jabs.

Amaimon sneered down at the exorcist, "in fact, my uncle does."

"Are you a demon or not," Yukio hissed, giving up the pretense at polite conversation.

"Why don't you come closer and find out?"

A curled lip showed Amaimon's jagged fangs, bared in a snarl, slit-pupiled gold eyes adding to the effect and Rin remembered that bared fangs were a challenge for demons.

He stepped more in front of the earth king trying desperately to think of a way to calm both parties down.

"Yukio stop it!" Shiemi said, standing in front of the exorcist and glaring reprovingly at him.

"Shiemi," Yukio trailed off, seeming to deflate in the face of her stern reproach.

"Say you're sorry and that you're happy for both of them," Shiemi continued when she had his attention.

Yukio looked, helplessly, towards Rin, who waited for the apology he wasn't certain would come.

"Rin. Ambrosia…" Yukio sighed in defeat, pasting a smile on his face, "I'm sorry for my behavior. I'm very happy for you two."

Yukio hesitated, looking at Rin as if unsure how to proceed, "would it be alright if we talked about this tomorrow?"

Rin gave him a tired grin, accepting the peace offering for what it was and unable to deny his younger brother anything, "sure, Yukio. We can talk."

Shiemi nodded, happy with the results before she turned to Amaimon and bowed to him, "I'm very happy to have met you, Ambrosia. Rin is a good friend of mine and I hope we can be, too."

Rin shot a hopeful look over his shoulder to see Amaimon looking a bit stunned, although it was hard to tell on his blank face. Rin thought it possible that Amaimon defaulted to the look when he didn't know how to deal with his emotions, though he would have to test that a little further to confirm it.

At a squeeze from Rin's hand, Amaimon nodded his head, looking a little disoriented in the face of Shiemi's kindness, "thank you."

Rin and Shiemi beamed at each other, satisfied that everyone was getting along.

"We'll leave you two alone to dance. Bye, Rin! Bye, Ambrosia!" Shiemi said, waving goodbye and grabbing Yukio's hand to lead him away with her.

Rin watched them fade into the crowd before he found himself wrapped in an embrace by a perturbed demon king.

"Can we please leave now?"

Rin hugged Amaimon back, realizing the poor demon had had enough of the crowds and pretending to be human for the night, even though they hadn't been able to do as much as Rin would have liked at the festival.

"Yeah, okay. Where do you want to go?"

Instead of answering, the demon raised his hand as if signaling someone and Rin had only a moment to wonder who before he was blinking and opening his eyes to an ornate room, the sounds of the festival muffled by thick red-wood walls and various silk-screen hangings.

"My, My, retiring so soon? I thought you would be out enjoying the festival for much longer."

Rin released Amaimon and grinned sheepishly at Mephisto as the demon approached.

Amaimon blew at the stray wisps of his bangs, shooting a scowl at the elder demon at the inane statement.

Rin smiled back at the poor, put-upon earth king before stepping forward and wrapping his arms around Mephisto, feeling him tense at the unexpected move.

"What's this?"

Rin snuggled his face further into the folds of the yukata Mephisto was wearing, feeling a contented purr rising in his chest when the demon brought a hand to stroke at his hair.

"Thank you."

Rin inhaled, closing his eyes to better enjoy being enveloped by the scent the two demon kings, a sense of safety and protection overcoming him as Mephisto returned his embrace.

A second pair of arms joined them and Amaimon set his chin on Rin's shoulder, annoyed at being left out, "he didn't do anything. Why are you rewarding him and not me?"

Rin snickered as Mephisto grumbled about ungrateful demons.

"While I will credit you for the initial idea to accompany our Rin to the dance, I'd appreciate it if you recalled who it was that actually planned everything out."

"And," Mephisto pulled out of the embrace, stepping back to survey them from afar, "I am quite satisfied with my work in dressing the two of you for the occasion."

"Amaimon looks amazing!" Rin said in complete agreement, bringing his hands up to place them over Amaimon's arms, currently crossed around his chest.

The earth king snorted, nudging Rin's cheek with his nose, "he meant you, too."

"O-oh" Rin stuttered, unsure how to take the compliment to his looks, "I didn't- I don't- Um."

He practically felt the glare Amaimon was shooting Mephisto, the demon's arms tightening around him.

"This is your fault," the earth king accused, "he's got self-esteem issues because you left him alone, thinking he was human for so long."

Mephisto raised his hands in surrender, "in all fairness, this was hardly the way I expected events would play out when I set things into motion."

Rin became aware of a lump in his breast pocket, remembering something and gently unlatching Amaimon's arms from around him to take out the red chrysanthemum he'd put there earlier.

He held out the slightly damaged flower to Mephisto, a small smile on his face, "I got one for Amaimon. This one's for you."

"I still don't understand why," Amaimon grumbled behind him, not liking being ignorant of something that Rin seemed to find obvious.

By the delight in Mephisto's green eyes as he came forward to take the flower, Rin knew the elder demon understood the human custom.

"Did you know," the demon king began, considering the thin red petals before him, "a red chrysanthemum signifies a deep, passionate love. And that lovely deep red carnation you've given Amaimon says your heart aches for his love. It's very romantic of you, Rin."

"Why give meaning to a plant? They don't care one way or another what your feelings are," Amaimon complained, plucking at the red petaled flower still in his hair.

Rin just laughed, rubbing the back of his head, "I didn't know all that, I just wanted to give you guys something."

"I don't understand it," Amaimon stated, reaching to attach himself to Rin again, "and I don't understand love either."

Rin blinked, trying to puzzle that out, though he relaxed into Amaimon's hold anyways, happy to stay there as long as he could.

Seeing his confusion, Mephisto explained, "love is one of those funny human concepts that never made it over to demons. It's quite foreign to us, another one of those nebulous ideas humans like to squabble over."

"But," Rin began, brows furrowed as he tried to conceptualize that, "you both like me, right?"

When he received a confirming nod from Amaimon into his shoulder and an 'of course' from Mephisto, he continued, "and you're both mine- and I'm yours, right?"

"Mm, mine," Amaimon nuzzled further into his shoulder in agreement.

Mephisto just watched him with hooded eyes, waiting for him to make his point.

"Then that's love," Rin concluded, voice firm.

"Ah," Mephisto breathed, a testing tone to his voice, "and what would you say if I told you that I am not and have never been one for monogamy. I've had many demons and humans alike in my bed in the countless years I've been alive, you realize."

Rin just shook his head at the attempt to get a rise out of him, "yeah, I remember you saying something like that when you told me about your real name. I didn't forget."

Mephisto grinned, his eyes crinkling at the corners, coming to press a kiss to Rin's crown, "then that, as you say, is love."

"Are we done? Do I get my reward now?" Amaimon prodded, bored with the conversation.

"And what we have here is a sad lack of romanticism," Mephisto sighed, running a hand through his hair.

Rin didn't care, turning and bringing his arms to Amaimon's shoulders and pressing a kiss to his cheek, having to stand on his toes to reach since the other still had his heels on, "yep! One reward, coming right up."

"And what, exactly, did you have in mind?" Mephisto breathed into his ear, nibbling at the tip of it as Rin gasped and leaned back into the elder demon.

"Amaimon said I could have him tonight," Rin said, voice cheerful, despite the slight flush to his face, still not up for any of the dirtier terms the other two used.

Still, he could see the earth king's pupils dilate, staring, unblinking, into his eyes.

"And what if I decide I would prefer something else?" Mephisto said, hand reaching down to his waist, rubbing a clawed finger along the thin fabric over his stomach where his shirt tucked into his slacks

Rin grinned back, teasing, "sorry, you're not allowed to this time."

Amaimon stopped from where he'd been kissing at Rin's throat at his statement, sharing a raised brow with Mephisto.

"How do you mean?" Mephisto said, head tilted at the curiosity of having been denied. It didn't happen very often, or at all, really.

"Well," Rin said, drawing the word out, enjoying having the upper hand for once.

"You said you'd owe me a favor for taking your 'niece' to the party and introducing her to the other students."

He glanced over his shoulder to see the effect he'd had on the demon king, "I want to call that favor in."

Mephisto had that draconic look in his eyes again.

Amaimon laughed up at the elder demon, mocking, "he's caught you in your own game, Samael."

"That's an interesting request," Mephisto began, voice dangerously soft, "I'm surprised you realized what I was offering in that exchange. You didn't seem to notice it at the time."

"Actually," Rin said, mouth widening in a sly smile and blush returning, "my reward for Amaimon is separate. I wanted something else from you."

A rumble built up in Mephisto's chest, reverberating through Rin's back and causing him to shiver pleasantly.

Rin extricated himself from the two demons, although Mephisto's arms tensed, reluctant to release him.

He went around so he was behind Amaimon, the earth king studying him with careful eyes to see what he would do.

Rin ignored them both to observe the way he trailed his finger down the open-backed dress before him, enjoying the way Amaimon's breath hitched and Mephisto's eyes focused on the sound.

"I wanted to watch you two again."

Mephisto stopped breathing, eyes appearing incandescent with the heat in them, until his nose flared and his breath escaped him in a long hiss, "what did you say?"

"You heard me," Rin said, tone blithe as he pretended not to have noticed the effect he was having on the two demon kings, still running his finger over the suddenly tensed muscles of Amaimon's back.

"Yes," Amaimon hissed out, sounding animalistic as he shuddered in anticipation of fulfilling Rin's request.

Rin planted his palm flat against the center of Amaimon's back, letting it rest heavy there and feeling the demon's heart thudding in his excitement.

He glanced up to see whether his proposal had been accepted, raising a brow in silent question.

"Why?" Mephisto growled out, still pinning them with unblinking eyes.

"Because I can't hurt him like you can," Rin said, making sure he held that unblinking stare and seeing those pupils become slivers, almost lost in the acid-green color.

"I don't like hurting people. I really don't know how," he continued, accentuating his remark with a light scratch of claws that had grown sharp at Amaimon's back as if to contradict that statement, "but you like to, and he likes being hurt."

"And," Rin said, feeling his fangs lengthen in his mouth to give his voice a guttural sound and his ears become just that much more pointed, "I like to watch."

Amaimon was almost quaking at Rin's words, turning desperate eyes towards Mephisto.

"Please, Samael," the earth king groaned, panting at how keyed up he was with anticipation.

"What a…rare breed you are, Rin," Mephisto said, voice dark and eyes hooded, "I accept your proposal."

Rin didn't wait any longer, shoving Amaimon forward and into the waiting arms of the demon king.

He turned his back to them to walk to a nearby chaise lounge, settling down onto it with his elbows bent on his knees and his face impassive beneath his brows.

Mephisto had Amaimon in his arms, head pulled back at a harsh angle while the demon placed one butterfly-soft kiss to his collarbone before sinking his fangs into the meat of his shoulder, eliciting a hoarse shout from the earth king.

Amaimon scrabbled at the unmoving arms keeping him pressed against Mephisto, silk-black dress bunching up to reveal that the demon had, in fact, not been wearing underwear.

Rin saw the peak of the earth king's green tail wrapped around the leg opposite the slit in his dress, answering where he'd been hiding it since he couldn't wrap it around his chest with such a low-cut back.

Mephisto removed his teeth, cleaning the blood that trickled from the punctures and ignoring the way Amaimon writhed against him.

Amaimon was unceremoniously shoved to the hard floor, made to kneel at Mephisto's knees with a hand gripping the hair of the mussed bun on his head.

"Put on a good show, Amaimon," Mephisto commanded, staring down with haughty eyes.

Amaimon didn't hesitate, leaning forwards to tug the tie of the yukata open with his teeth, letting the robe fall open to reveal Mephisto had also forgotten to wear anything beneath.

Amaimon swallowed the length in front of him, pushing forward until he'd taken the whole thing down and his nose brushed the dark curls there.

Mephisto glanced at Rin as if asking him whether he could move or not, letting Amaimon wait in agony.

Rin inclined his head, expression revealing nothing.

The demon king thrust into the warm mouth over him, fucking into the earth king's throat while Amaimon could do nothing except take it, tears pricking at the corners of his eyes and saliva running down his lips.

The red lipstick was smeared irreparably by the time Mephisto released Amaimon, pulling him off and turning him around.

While Amaimon coughed, his hands were bound behind him with the silk tie of Mephisto's robe and his arms pulled taut, forced to arch his back forward to touch his forehead to the ground

Mephisto crouched behind him, gently pushing his arms up as far as they could go until Amaimon sobbed at the pain, face turned towards Rin on the floor as much as he could from that angle, but his eyes were sightless.

The earth king gasped in relief when Mephisto released the pressure, arms dropping with a thud to his back, though he remained bowed against the floor, waiting for Mephisto's next move.

Mephisto trailed his clawed hands over Amaimon's thighs, pushing up the black dress and revealing more and more skin to Rin's blank gaze. Amaimon's tail had unwound itself from his leg earlier, twitching with every scratch of Mephisto's claws on the floor beside him.

Mephisto reached out with uncaring hands to grab the tail and yank. Amaimon yowled, trying to arch his back up but unable to with Mephisto's other hand keeping him still.

Mephisto ran a soothing hand down the abused tail, watching while Amaimon heaved gasping breaths against the floor, saliva pooling there as he made no effort to swallow.

The demon king spread his hands over the swell of Amaimon's ass, parting his cheeks and glancing at Rin once more before he went to the next step.

Mephisto froze as he was met with blazing blue eyes, feeling like he was back in the presence of Satan for the first time in years.

Rin's eyes had become twin infernos, the pupils warping and turning red as his control over his flames slipped just enough to reveal his true nature in his eyes.

But Rin did nothing except incline his head again, telling Mephisto to continue without words.

The demon king shuddered at the power he could feel from Rin, unable to stop himself form complying with his unspoken demands and thrusting into the waiting body in front of him.

Amaimon cried out at the abrupt entry, rim tearing and bleeding only to heal a few moments later, leaving him shaking on the floor.

Mephisto didn't give him time to adjust, slamming into the raised hips until Amaimon's cries of pain became cries of pleasure as he became accustomed to the force.

The earth king's knees slid over the hard wood beneath them with every thrust, leaving bruises that healed and formed and healed again.

Mephisto brought a hand up to claw down Amaimon's back, once again taking advantage of the expanse of skin availed to him.

Amaimon sobbed as Mephisto ran a rough tongue over the wounds, cleaning the blood before it could reach the edges of the no doubt expensive dress

The taste of the earth king's blood sent Mephisto over the brink, releasing into Amaimon, who moaned at the feeling but didn't come, himself.

Mephisto panted, making to reach down and help Amaimon but suddenly found his hand stopped, gripped in Rin's who'd made his way unhurriedly over to the two kings while their attention had been absorbed.

The demon king stared, question on his tongue but unable to speak at the look in Rin's eyes.

Rin broke his impassive expression to smile kindly down at Mephisto, letting his captured hand go to bend down and press a gentle kiss the demon's hair, tracing his flushed cheek with the backs of his claws.

"Thank you, Mephisto. I'll take him from here."

Mephisto found himself helpless to do anything but watch as Rin leant down and pulled Amaimon off of his softened length, undoing the tie from around his hands and carrying him bridal style to the futon.

Amaimon groaned as feeling returned to his arms, pins and needles running through them, body aching as it was placed on top of the soft duvet covers.

He stared up at Rin as if just seeing him for the first time.

Rin's smile was soft as he leaned down to tug Amaimon's hair out of its ruined bun and tease the knots from of the strands, careful not to pull too hard at the ones he found.

"It's time for your reward now, Amaimon."

Amaimon gasped out a sob at Rin's words, achingly hard still and desperate for release.

Rin swallowed the sound with a soft kiss, running the warm pads of his fingers over Amaimon's face and massaging the strained muscles of his jaw.

The earth king sighed, eyes shuttering closed, as his body relaxed into the touch, bringing his arms up to clutch at the fabric of Rin's suit over his shoulders.

Rin slipped the loose straps of Amaimon's dress over his shoulders and down his arms, lifting Amaimon's hips to bring it off of him until he lay fully naked, skin glistening in the dim light of the room.

He turned to where Mephisto still sat, throwing the dress at him to catch on instinct, still mesmerized by the scene before him.

Rin cocked a cheeky grin at him and went back to where he'd left off with Amaimon, nosing down the demon's chest to lick at the salty skin there and feel the thudding heartbeat beneath his mouth.

Amaimon was incoherent, tail slipping over the sheets in erratic coils and body trying to arch into Rin's above his.

Rin didn't let him, keeping a firm hand on the earth king's hip and reprimanding him, voice apologetic, "sorry, Amaimon, this suit's expensive and I'd hate to owe Mephisto anything if I let you ruin it, so no touching, okay?"

Amaimon whimpered up at him, eyes wide and pupils blown as he tried to reconcile this new dominant Rin with the blushing virgin he'd first corrected sloppy, inexperienced kisses for the week before.

Rin smiled down at him, letting his hold soften to stroke his hand up Amaimon's flank and leaning down to draw him into another kiss.

The earth king was reaching whole new levels of arousal, still untouched by either Rin or Mephisto and leaking pre-cum onto his quivering stomach.

Rin leaned back and gestured behind him to Mephisto, "would you be able to get me that oil you used on me?"

Mephisto knew it was worded like a request but at that moment he would have given Rin anything, bringing up a shaking hand to snap his fingers so that the bottle of oil appeared in Rin's waiting palm.

Rin gave him an appreciative smile and Mephisto felt his heart flutter in his chest, body limp with shock.

Amaimon gasped as Rin prepared him, not used to such care being taken with him and unable to do anything except lay there, stunned.

Then Rin found that bundle of nerves inside Amaimon and the demon cried out, length jumping and leaking more pre-come on his belly as he shuddered and writhed against the sheets.

That seemed to be the signal Rin was looking for and he removed his fingers.

The half-demon unzipped his slacks, pulling himself out and lining up at Amaimon's entrance, but not entering until Amaimon opened his eyes and stared, about to start begging if Rin didn't do something soon.

"Amaimon?"

The earth king looked up at Rin helplessly, soundless pants leaving his throat while he waited for Rin to continue.

"I -like- you a lot," Rin said, carefully not using the other 'L' word and knowing Amaimon and Mephisto understood him just fine.

Amaimon let out a low moan, unable to respond to that revelation at all.

Still, Rin didn't move, and the earth king let out another frustrated sob.

"Are you mine, Amaimon?"

Rin tilted his head, unmoved by the desperate demon beneath him as he waited for an answer.

"Yes!" Amaimon cried out, voice wretched and looking utterly wrecked.

That was all Rin needed, finally pushing into Amaimon who let out a long, relieved groan at getting what he'd been begging for.

But Rin didn't immediately start pounding into the tight heat offered to him, choosing to move in slow drags that had Amaimon sobbing in renewed frustration.

"Mephisto asked me this last time, Amaimon, and I'm going to ask you now. Okay? What do you say when you're asking someone for something, Amaimon?"

Amaimon couldn't even understand the question at first, mind lost to any forms of higher thought and just hearing his own name repeated in the rough tones of the half-demon over him.

It took Rin slowing to a stop for him to shout the answer that came to him, anything to get him moving again.

"Please!"

"Thank you, Amaimon."

The earth king cried out as Rin began pounding in earnest, finding his legs hiked over Rin's shoulders and pressed back into his chest as Rin deepened the angle, hands gripping into Amaimon's thighs for better purchase.

And finally, finally, Rin reached down and stroked Amaimon's untouched length and the earth king couldn't last any longer, the touch sending him over until he was coming onto himself with a hoarse cry.

Rin kept moving.

Amaimon looked up with glassy eyes, hypnotized by the blue fire in Rin's gaze and mind blissfully clear.

It soon became too much, Amaimon's oversensitive nerves screaming from the continued torment and muscles clenching at the merciless intrusion.

Rin gave a guttural moan as Amaimon tightened around him, growling at the added pressure before stilling and coming into the earth king with a final thrust.

Amaimon couldn't do anything but tremble in the after-shakes, utterly debauched.

Rin panted, chest heaving as he came back from the demonic head-space he'd found himself in, pulling out of Amaimon to the other's weak cry, and gingerly lying next to the demon on the futon.

He nuzzled into the earth king's neck, breathing in the mingled scents he found there, humming in pleasure as he mouthed at the fluttering pulse.

"You insatiable demon."

Rin was turned away from Amaimon's neck to stare up at Mephisto, the king having decided to join them.

Rin felt a satisfied purr go through his chest, eyes drooping to half-mast while he waited for Mephisto to act.

"You astound me, Rin," the demon king murmured, bending down to card his claws through Rin's sweat-soaked hair.

Rin gave him a sleepy smile, wriggling into the covers beneath him as he relaxed into the touch.

"I like you too, Mephisto."

Mephisto let out an amused huff, leaning down to place a kiss on Rin's forehead before sliding down and opening his mouth to lave the flat of his tongue over Rin's length, cleaning the mess there so it wouldn't ruin the suit.

Rin's lethargic moan almost had him continuing his ministrations but Mephisto made himself leave the half-demon before anything started again to move on to cleaning up Amaimon, too.

The earth king gave a tired grumble, almost unconscious already after his exertions.

Mephisto sat back with a satisfied lick to his lips but moved back to begin tugging off Rin's suit, not wanting the fabric to wrinkle.

Rin fumbled trying to help until Mephisto sighed and batted the half-demon's tired fingers away before he did any damage, stripping the suit off to leave him naked next to Amaimon.

Finally, snapping his fingers to neaten everything up, Mephisto allowed himself to collapse next to Rin.

The half-demon cuddled into Mephisto's chest, letting his tail curl around Amaimon's arm on the other side before settling and closing his eyes.

Giving the two younger demons one last analytical gaze from his green eyes, the demon king of time, Samael, allowed himself to sleep.

* * *

God, it all makes sense now. Mephisto is Kurama, Amaimon is Hiei, and Rin is Yusuke. No wonder I like this character dynamic, they've basically been my ot3 since day one.

Would you believe cross-dressing isn't a kink of mine? I mean, it's definitely Mephisto's kink so that explains the liberal presence in the fic. On the other hand, Dominant!Rin is definitely my kink p;

Also? I lied in the notes up above. Right in the last act of this chapter a scene for chapter 5 and 6 hit me like an epiphany and I wrote the first page of 5 before finishing chapter 4 because clearly I'm as masochistic as Amaimon.


	5. Welcome To the Family

Welcome To The Family

A/N Mephisto's schemes are inconvenient for everyone involved, sometimes even himself, the world is topsy-turvy when Amaimon looks like the reasonable one, Rin is introduced to more of his "family", Yukio has early onset stress induced gray hairs, and Kuro is more perceptive than given credit for.

I just realized why I wanted to end this fic after the last chapter (: I, a person who hates keeping timelines in order, have just spent hours trying to pick out the different scenes I want to use from amongst chapters 44 to 105 so I can integrate how Amaimon joining the classes earlier as Rin's new bae- and mixing all the fun relationship stuff into things- changes things up without just rehashing the plot of aoe. I actually had to make an outline, you guys. An outline! Instead of just making stuff up as I go along like usual D:D:D: Also Lighting complicates things so much I know why Mephisto hates him now omg

(I just wanted to write them in cute smluffy scenes, why must I suffer the plot parts too? Lalalala somebody kill me :DDD)

But I really, really wanted to get to the Koma sword breaking and Rin awakening (his inner demon hah) bc I have the best scene(s) for that that I need to write like woah. So I'm sorry in advance for whatever mistakes I make with the incredibly complicated sequence of events in these following chapters lololol

It's all in the quest for getting the ot3 into risqué situations really ;D

* * *

Mephisto jolted up from the futon, startling the other two sleeping demons beside him.

"Oops."

Rin blinked bleary eyes, trying to understand why he was awake just yet while Amaimon let out a dangerous growl and tried to go back to sleep.

A snap, and all three were dressed in their usual outfits, Mephisto already standing up and adjusting his gloves to Rin and Amaimon's confused shouts.

"Everybody up! We're about to miss the main event of the night."

Rin found Kurikara had appeared strapped over his shoulder and glanced at Amaimon to see the other watching him with a suspiciously blank stare, a sure sign the demon was hiding turbulent emotions.

"Um," Rin figured he might as well ask and see if Mephisto would start making sense, "what main event? Is the festival over?"

The demon king hesitated as he turned to look over his shoulder, mouth quirked in a small regret-filled smile.

"I'm going to have to apologize to you in advance, Rin, for what's about to happen."

Rin quieted, seeing the tired resignation in Mephisto's eyes and knowing the demon king was warning him he wasn't going to like whatever the main event was. Judging by how quiet Amaimon was being, he was also aware of the situation and what Rin's reaction was going to be.

But, Rin inhaled, closing his eyes to settle his thoughts before opening them and leveling a long stare at the demon king.

"I guess we'll just have to wait and see how bad it is to know how you're going to make it up to me after."

Mephisto nodded his head, accepting Rin's admonition and the consequences of his scheming.

* * *

Mephisto was right to worry.

Rin was furious.

There before him stood Shima, brandishing the black flames of a powerful summon- something Rin hadn't even suspected the laid-back exwire to be capable of- channeled into his staff and having delivered an unconscious Izumo into the arms of the Illuminati.

Rin couldn't speak in the face of his friend's contrite smile, unable to understand where Shima's betrayal had come from, only staring with searching eyes and dismay eating at his heart.

He'd just been introducing Ambrosia to the other exwire at the festival, been good naturedly teasing him with Konekomaru in the two's dorm where they'd made him feel like family in the face of Yukio's absence a week ago, been going to classes and over-coming their trials to become exorcists for a year now.

Shima was his friend and Rin never expected betrayal from his friends.

To say he was shocked was the understatement of the century and Rin felt as if the world had been yanked out from under his feet for the second time in his life.

Mephisto had teleported the three of them into a standoff, Illuminati with their helicopter ready to take off with Shima and the captured Izumo on one side, and the remaining exwires, Nemu Takara, and Yukio on the other.

Their entrance had come just as the blindingly bright forms of the Seraphs appeared to herald the arrival of Lucifer, king of light and the most powerful of the demon kings.

Mephisto was a bulwark against the oppressive heat and light the beings gave off, his cloak creating a shadow to guard the defenseless humans behind him.

Their appearance prompted surprised shouting from the others, especially seeing Amaimon again, though the earth king completely ignored them. But there wasn't any way to sit down and explain why Rin had shown up in their company, so Rin just inched closer to the two demons and kept his eyes on the enemy, hoping he'd have the chance to talk to his friends about it later.

And Lucifer appeared, materializing out of a ray of blinding light to stand opposite Mephisto.

The king's face was obscured by an elaborate hawk-like mask and his blonde-furred tail swept freely behind him. His molten gold eyes could be seen from the mask, piercing and terrifying and Rin couldn't have moved if he tried.

Rin flinched and felt his teeth curl up in a defensive growl as the demon glanced at him until Amaimon moved to stand more in front of him, crossed arms and straight-backed defiance that let Rin breathe easier.

That terrifying gaze left him to move onto Mephisto.

Rin could smell decay on the demon and he picked out the rotting skin around his neck and hands that spoke of a body dying by inches. The demon king kept letting out intermittent wet sounding coughs, though his voice when he finally spoke was patrician and somehow Rin could sense that he was still totally capable of destroying them without even trying.

"Samael."

"Lucifer, it's been so long."

Rin listened with growing rage as the king laid out his goals: bring peace through total equality, which sounded nice until you found out that when he said equality he meant the destruction of the physical world until everything returned to the immaterial state that the universe had existed in at the dawn of time.

All so Lucifer would no longer have to suffer a rapidly degrading body that his overwhelming energy forced him to leave every ten years until he would reform and start the agonizing process again. Forever.

Rin almost sympathized.

"Samael, I will give you one more chance to join me and, if you will not, then I will consider you my enemy."

Rin was almost afraid of what Mephisto's answer would be until the demon king's face twisted into a wide sneer, baring his fangs at Lucifer in clear challenge.

"Impossible! I love the chaos of this world too much to go back to such a pitiful existence."

Lucifer's eyes narrowed before he nodded his head, accepting the statement, "it appears we still disagree on things, then. Very well."

The king of light paused and acknowledged the other king in the group and Rin felt his breath hitch, scared for Amaimon despite himself, knowing that, as strong as the demon was, he could never stand up to Lucifer should he attack.

For his part, Amaimon stood firm, appearing almost bored at being the focus of the powerful demon.

"What's this, Amaimon? Have you chosen a side in this war, finally?"

Amaimon sneered at Lucifer.

"Yes."

"Then you have sided with Samael after-all."

Amaimon snorted, "fuck off, Luci."

He indicated Rin with his chin, eyes not leaving the elder demon's.

"I've chosen to side with Rin."

Lucifer gave no reaction to the insult to his name, having put up with much worse from his rebellious younger brother over the thousands of years they'd existed.

"And does Samael accept this?"

Amaimon grinned, baring jagged fangs in his own challenge, "again. Yes."

Lucifer nodded, calm in the face of Amaimon's declaration.

"I see," the king of light paused, turning to acknowledge a stunned Rin, "congratulations, then. I'm very happy for you, Amaimon."

"And, Rin," Lucifer began as he turned to leave, "should you decide at some future point to join myself and my cause, you and Amaimon will always be welcome. It was a pleasure to meet you, finally."

"Welcome to the family."

* * *

Amaimon ignored the shell-shocked exwires and their shouts to the retreating pink-haired spy, whose name he didn't care to remember. His attention was focused on Rin, watching to see how the younger demon was taking everything.

Unfortunately, that was when the explosions started. The Seraph stationed at the academy and elsewhere around the world at the different branches of the True Cross order suiciding in burning implosions of light, the real declaration of war Lucifer had appeared to deliver.

The barrier around the academy fell and Amaimon shared a grimace with Mephisto at the mess that would have to be cleaned up. Not, of course that Amaimon would be assisting Mephisto's exorcists with anything.

But Rin would have to and Amaimon would help Rin.

* * *

It was a defeated and solemn group that was left flat-footed to watch the helicopter bearing their friends away.

Rin was angry without an outlet.

Well, he glared at Mephisto, who was definitely responsible for at least half of this mess. The demon king was still looking to the sky, following the path the helicopter was bearing.

But, and Rin felt like gnashing his teeth and spitting flames about it, he had been warned that he was not going to be happy so he at least owed Mephisto a conversation with a more level head before he decided what level of retribution he was owed.

Then he could yell at the scheming bastard.

The sound of a gun cocking snapped Rin's attention away from his thoughts and up to Yukio only for his heart to stop as his twin pointed his guns at Amaimon.

"Why is Amaimon here, Sir Pheles?"

"Ah, please lower your weapons, Mr. Okumura, we're all on the same side here," Mephisto said, hands raised and a placating smile on the demon's face.

"No, please, keep your pitiful weapons pointed at me," Amaimon hissed out, claws flexing in irritation.

"Yukio!" Rin snapped, moving to stand in Yukio's path, "back off, we've got bigger issues here."

Yukio looked like he was about to start spouting his own flames until Shiemi stepped forward to put a calming hand on his arm, eyes wide and bright with tears, "please, Yukio, we have to go save Izumo and Shima."

Rin almost thought Yukio would shoot Amaimon anyway, his twin hating being backed into a corner. But, with a sigh, Yukio lowered his guns, though he didn't holster them.

"Fine. I'd still like answers. What was all that?"

Mephisto scratched at his chin, contemplating the view of the city from the overlook they were on, "what you have just witness is the king of light destroying the main barrier."

Already Rin could see lower and middle-class demons swarming the skies and moving in from the water.

"I suspect," Mephisto narrowed his eyes, "that the rest of the branches of the True Cross have experienced similar attacks."

Rin listened as Mephisto made his orders. They'd be going in alone, Yukio leading with that weird kid, Nemu Takara, who was apparently a third-party high-level puppet-master exorcist under Mephisto's employ and knew how to track Izumo, until Mephisto could get back up sent in. The demon himself would be busy repairing the barrier.

That left one other.

"What about- him-"

Bon had finally spoken, shooting a wary look at the idle earth king while Konekomaru trembled behind him at the remembered pain of his arm snapping like a twig with just a gentle poke of one of those black claws.

Rin flinched, remembering his friends hadn't exactly gone through the same revelations about Amaimon as he had. The last time they'd seen the demon he'd been, well, a demon. Vicious, taking cruel joy in forcing Rin into fighting him, all so he could have his fun and get Rin to bring out his blue flames.

In truth, if Rin hadn't been through the last week with Amaimon, seeing all new sides to him and demons in general, then he would be just as suspicious as the others, if not more so. Up until now, he'd always hated whenever anyone reminded him that he was half demon, the shame eating at him. It was only because of Amaimon that he'd started to overcome that feeling.

Rin narrowed his eyes as he felt a growl try to bubble up out of his mouth, caused by the instinctual need to defend the other. Nobody would even be thinking about messing with Amaimon while he was there.

He was about to say so, stepping forward, when he felt a warm hand come to rest on his shoulder. Mephisto smiled down at him, asking without words to let him handle things and Rin let out a shaky exhale, bowing his head to hide his eyes because he was still not quite over his anger at the elder.

"Amaimon will also be accompanying you. Please try to get along, as I've said, we're all on the same side."

Rin shot a quick look over to Amaimon. The demon was standing, bored look back on his face while he let Mephisto do the talking. Rin felt his heart twinge in his chest when Amaimon's gaze slid to meet his, wishing he could stand next to the demon but unsure if he could afford to with the tensions running so high in the group.

"What about Shima?" Shiemi spoke, turning worried eyes up to Mephisto as Bon and Koneko flinched at the reminder that their childhood friend had apparently turned traitor on them.

Mephisto glanced at Rin out of the corner of his eyes before he spoke, "I can't say. We'll have to work under the assumption that he is indeed a spy until or unless new information proves otherwise."

Okay, now Rin was pissed.

"We don't know that," he hissed out, glaring with dark eyes up at the demon and feeling his claws bite into his palms, "I'm going to drag him home and -make- him tell us what's going on. Then we'll decide whether he's a spy or not."

Mephisto answered him with a wry smile, "as you say, we must first retrieve him."

"I'll take my leave, then. Those barriers won't repair themselves."

Rin watched Mephisto turn to leave, emotions conflicted and his heart aching. He wanted to go back to the comfort of the futon where it was just the three of them and he didn't have to worry about the end of the world or Mephisto's possibly sinister plans and he could just be.

He turned his head to see Amaimon was leaving as well, the demon sending him one last blank look over his shoulder that made Rin want to scream with how frustrated he felt. He was trapped between wanting to go to the earth king and shake him until he talked or hide in his arms until the world made sense again.

And he couldn't do either because he had to maintain appearances for his friends and his brother, who had no idea he was even having this problem.

Instead, Rin turned away and began the long walk back to his dorm to get ready for the mission ahead, heart heavy and soul weary.

* * *

"Rin. Why did you appear with Mephisto and Amaimon? We couldn't find you after we left you with," Yukio slid a suspicious frown at where Rin walked beside him, having left the other exwires behind to head back to their dorm, "Ambrosia."

Rin winced, tired and worn after the emotional rollercoaster he'd just been on. He knew his twin wouldn't let it go about Ambrosia.

"I," he sighed, repeating the prepared lie Mephisto had given him for this exact situation, the words feeling like ash in his mouth, "went to go drop Ambrosia off at Mephisto's after we danced. She's Amaimon's daughter. I talked with him. We hashed things out. It's cool now."

"Pfft! That mad dog has a daughter? Who's the unlucky woman?"

Rin's eyes widened, pupils narrowing to slivers.

Rage welled up in his heart at the insult. His thread-bare emotions were already so close to snapping, having taken one too many hits that night.

And he was just. So. Angry.

"Say that again."

Yukio stopped laughing, turning shocked, fear-filled eyes to him at the dangerous growl and Rin realized he'd let his flames burst out in patches over his body, something he hadn't let happen around his twin since he'd gotten control over them during the impure king mission.

His fangs were elongated in his mouth and Rin ran his tongue over them, letting out a shuddering breath as he forced himself to calm down.

"I'm sorry," Rin closed his eyes, anger evaporating and leaving him even more drained than before, "I'm just tired. Can we not talk about this?"

"Sure," Yukio mumbled, wide eyes not leaving Rin even as they reached the dorm and Rin pushed past him to head to the room.

They packed in silence until a curious, and worried, Kuro asked them where they were going.

"An important mission, no idea when we'll be back," Rin responded.

Something in the way he answered must have sounded off to the cait sidhe, who determined he would be going with them. It made Rin feel a little better that he'd be in the company of his familiar.

He slept in fits, waking up to a pale watery dawn and feeling no more rested than when he'd gone to bed.

They met up with the rest of the exwires at the train station and Yukio conveyed their marching orders while on the way to the airport.

Rin perked up a bit when he found out they'd be taking a plane to the Inari Shrine in Shimane Prefecture, which also turned out to be Izumo's and Paku's hometown. The fact that Izumo had been taken back there by her kidnappers was an unusual coincidence that no one had an answer to but was worrying regardless.

Still.

"I've never been on a plane," Rin gasped, a mixture of excitement and anxiety running through him at the thought of being so high up. He shared an apprehensive look with Shiemi who'd also never flown.

They made it on the plane and Rin was just settling down when he realized he still hadn't seen a sign of Amaimon.

His heart dropped, disappointment eating at him, although he hadn't even been sure he'd wanted to see the other until just then. Kuro gave him a worried look, purring in an attempt to comfort him.

Looking at his friends and the rest of the humans on the packed flight, Rin could imagine why the earth king was finding his own way, probably by one of Mephisto's transportation keys.

It would have been a special kind of torture to have to sit next to Amaimon on a flight and not be able to touch him or talk to him the way he wanted to. To have to pretend to be strangers within inches of each other, and deal with his friend's suspicions the whole flight would have killed him.

So, he spent the time with the others going over what information they had on the situation, trying to plan as much as they could with so many unknowns. And gagging down one of Shiemi's thoughtfully prepared- but so, so nasty tasting- bento boxes she'd made for everyone.

Then they arrived and Rin found himself scanning the crowd for a hint of the earth king, scenting the air and hoping he was there.

Nothing. Rin crushed the bitter disappointment before anyone could notice and tried to get excited as they decided to walk from the airport to the shrine, apparently the quickest way to get there.

The peaceful fields of golden rice and the pleasant sunny weather made the walk pretty nice, actually. And at least he was able to talk some sense into Bon, the serious guy still not handling Shima's betrayal well at all.

They made it to the road leading up to the gates of the Inari shrine and Rin felt his heart leap.

"Amaimon!"

"Where?" Konekomaru squeaked out, looking around for the dangerous demon.

The rest of the group, except Takara, who was just so weird, jumped as the earth king appeared next to Rin, contemptuous glare on his face.

It took everything Rin had not to burrow his face into Amaimon's chest and just breathe. Even so he turned a brilliant smile on the demon only to see him flinch, turning Rin's smile into a confused frown.

"How did you know he was here?" Shiemi questioned, head tilted as she overcame the fright of the demon's sudden appearance.

"Ah," Rin grinned, rubbing the back of his head, "I smelled him."

Kuro, who'd been hiding in Rin's arms when Amaimon had arrived, blinked up at him. The cait sidhe's eyes widened as if he'd had an epiphany and Rin winked down at him, wondering if his familiar could sense the other's claim on him as Mephisto and Amaimon kept telling him other demons could do.

Luckily Kuro was discreet, and the way he kept glancing between Amaimon and Rin with a happy smile on his little cat face told Rin the familiar approved of his choice.

"Yes, well, as fascinating as that is, we should head in and scope the area out," Yukio interrupted, narrowed eyes beneath his glasses as he turned to lead them up to the gates.

Rin didn't care about his twin's attitude for once, breathing in again to take in Amaimon scent, feeling settled in a way he hadn't since the day before.

But Amaimon still wouldn't look at him, staying a few feet away with his hands shoved into the pockets of his coat. Rin noticed the tensed way he carried himself, something he doubted the others would have. But the sharp angle of his shoulders and the way he stalked forwards as if heading into a battle made Rin start to worry and once again he cursed that he couldn't get Amaimon alone to find out what the problem was.

Then they got to the shrine entrance and Rin could only gape as they were greeted by the sight of a complete tourist trap, filled with crowds of, well, tourists. He heard Amaimon let out a soft growl and Rin winced as he remembered how little the demon loved crowds of humans, wishing he could comfort him in some way.

And of course, that Takara guy disappeared on them the second their backs were turned, although Rin couldn't say he missed him.

They were swept up in the flow of the crowd, walking past stalls almost exclusively selling delicious smelling foods that had Rin's mouth-watering, having not eaten except for Shiemi's attempts at cooking.

"Guys, can we please get something? It smells so good!" Rin said, eyes roving over the many options and stomach growling.

"I don't see why not." Yukio said, acquiescing easily as he was just as hungry.

"No!" Rin jumped as Amaimon spoke up for the first time, the demon glaring at the food around them, "are you stupid or something?"

"Hey what's your problem?" Bon snapped out, coming to Rin and Yukio's defense.

Amaimon grit his teeth but answered, "we're in my brother's territory, can't you morons tell there's something wrong with this food? This whole place?"

Rin's eyes widened and he took a closer look at the food in a nearby stall, even smelling it to see if he could sense what Amaimon was talking about. But he couldn't pick up on anything.

Still, he trusted Amaimon to know Lucifer best and edged away from the tempting food.

"What do you mean?" Yukio demanded, not trusting Amaimon at all.

Amaimon narrowed his eyes at the mobs of people around him, "nothing here is natural, it's a trap for blind humans to happily walk into. And I doubt they ever leave."

"This is a tourist trap, to be sure," Konekomaru hesitated in saying, "but everyone just looks like they're enjoying themselves."

Amaimon snorted, "they're manic, high. The food is a drug."

Yukio exhaled a long breath through his nose but took a level-headed approach to the information, "alright, no one eat the food. We need to search the area. I'll be heading up to the shrine, everyone else, take it by sections. Head to the shrine when you're done with your section."

"And Rin," Yukio flicked his eyes between Rin and Amaimon, frowning at his next words, "you take Amaimon with you. Don't let him out of your sight."

"Sure," Rin agreed, torn between being pissed about the tone his brother took and thrilled he'd finally get some alone time with Amaimon.

The exwires split but Rin wasn't paying them any attention, eyes boring into the back of Amaimon's coat as he waited for the moment they were out of sight.

They rounded a corner and Rin reached out to grab Amaimon's arm, shivering at the excitement of getting finally his hands on the earth king.

Amaimon vanished.

Rin felt panicked confusion sting at his heart, watching the path the demon had leapt over the roofs of the buildings as he fled.

Then he got angry.

Frustration that had been building for the past day exploded in his chest and he felt a furious growl shake its way through his teeth, startling the people around him who heard it, as he took off after Amaimon.

Like- hell- he'd let him escape without any kind of explanation.

Rin tore through the streets, eventually taking to the rooftops after the bolting earth king.

Every time he lost sight of Amaimon, he'd catch his scent and be on the trail again, hunting him down like a dog after a fox that had scented its blood.

How dare he -run-

Rin dropped down into an empty side alley, slamming Amaimon into the brick wall behind him and seeing cracks erupt from the impact as the demon grunted in pain.

"Don't run from me!"

He saw himself reflected in the wide eyes of the earth king. His fangs filled his mouth in a ferocious snarl, ears elongated into points, irises a warped blue and pupils gone red. He looked out of control and pissed. He felt it.

Rin panted in fury and his claws gripped into Amaimon's coat, tearing holes in the maroon fabric until his knuckles whitened and creaked.

Amaimon immediately tilted his head back, baring his throat and letting out a soft whine. The sight had an instant effect on Rin and he found his fangs around the presented jugular, growling and pressing his teeth in until he was sure the other couldn't escape without doing serious damage to himself.

They stood like that, Amaimon frozen in place and Rin growling into the demon's neck, until Rin came back to himself.

He panted against Amaimon's throat, feeling his fangs shrink back to their normal pointedness as his adrenaline left him. He licked at the throat once before pulling back, glaring as a warning for Amaimon not to take off again.

"Why are you avoiding me?"

Amaimon looked down, averting his eyes until a soft growl from Rin made him jerk them back up.

"He said you'd want space."

"What?" Rin hissed out.

Amaimon flinched, "Mephisto. He said you'd be angry and would want time to yourself. That I should let you have it and not pressure you before you were ready."

Rin inhaled a shaky breath, bringing a hand up to lay it on Amaimon's chest, feeling the thudding heartbeat there and letting it calm him.

"I don't want- space-" Rin made sure Amaimon was looking him in the eyes, deadly serious.

"I. Want. You."

He watched Amaimon's eyes widen and he couldn't take it anymore, crushing his lips to the earth kings and shoving his knee between the demon's legs, giving him no space to move except forward into him.

Amaimon moaned against his mouth, bringing his arms up around Rin's shoulders and pressing closer to him, grinding against his leg, and Rin hummed his satisfaction at the response.

He deepened the kiss, feeling a hint of Amaimon's fangs scrape against his lower lip and a sharp pain hit him and he was tasting his own blood in the earth king's mouth. His pulse rocketed, somehow the flavor heightening his senses to a fever pitch and he bit at Amaimon's lips until the demon's blood welled up and mixed on their tongues and Rin was groaning into the kiss.

They broke apart, a line of faintly red saliva trailing between their mouths and Rin wiped it away before bringing his teeth to Amaimon's neck again to nip at the racing pulse there.

"You're not mad at me?" Amaimon panted out, hand clutching at the back of Rin's head to bring him closer to his neck, arching up into his body like he was trying to meld the two of them together.

Rin growled again, closing his eyes and inhaling into the crook of Amaimon's neck.

"I'm furious."

Amaimon's pulse skipped a beat beneath his tongue.

"You said you were- mine- and then you ran."

Rin brought his narrowed gaze up, "like a coward."

Amaimon sucked in a breath, teeth gritting at the label.

"If I'm angry at you, I'll tell you and we can work it out. And you do the same for me," Rin stated, gaze softening.

"Just," Rin smiled, pressing his forehead against Amaimon's, bumping their noses together and speaking against his mouth, "don't run from me again. Okay?"

Amaimon gave a shuddering breath, eyes closing at Rin's request and he nodded silently.

"Thank you, Amaimon," Rin murmured, leaning in the last few centimeters to meet the demon's lips again, feeling a sense of relief wash over him in a wave.

Amaimon settled, no longer wary of him, and he brought his hands up to card through Rin's hair, savoring the unhurried kiss.

Then Rin found himself flipped and pressed to the wall, feeling the rough brick scratching his back through his jacket.

He blinked up at Amaimon, finding the demon smiling down at him and was about to question him when a clawed finger tapped at his bottom lip in a request for silence.

"Mephisto is dumb sometimes. I told him you wouldn't be happy at being ignored."

"Yeah, well, I'll let him know that when I see him again," Rin laughed, glad to know Amaimon was of the same opinion about meddling demon kings.

"I'm going to reward you now, okay?"

Rin inhaled a sharp breath at the casual promise.

He watched with heated cheeks as Amaimon knelt down to the ground of the alley in front of him and began undoing his belt. His breath stopped as the earth king nuzzled his face into the 'v' of his hips, staring up at him with a sly smile and dark eyes.

Rin bit his lip until it bled as Amaimon slowly unzipped his pants and pulled his length out, grasping it in his callused hand right next to his fanged mouth.

He whimpered as the demon trailed just the tip of his tapered tongue over his head, knees going weak at the sight. He'd seen what Amaimon was capable of with Mephisto and it was all he could think about now, staring into gold eyes.

Rin gripped at the surface of the wall, pressing back into it as he tried to hold himself up while Amaimon teased him mercilessly with light licks of his tongue, not giving him the pressure he needed.

His hips were gripped by Amaimon's clawed hands, the thumbs massaging warm circles into the skin beneath his untucked shirt and he shook as he held himself back from moving into the earth king's mouth.

"Amaimon, please," Rin gasped at a lick to his sensitive slit, hitting his head against the brick wall behind him at the suddenness of the sensation.

"Anything for you, Rin."

And then the demon opened his mouth, letting his fangs peek from under his lips and his long tongue loll out, winding around Rin as he worked his way down until he'd swallowed him to the root.

Rin let out a helpless groan and he felt his claws gouge at the bricks behind him, trying to stop himself from grabbing Amaimon's hair.

Then Amaimon began sucking and Rin couldn't hold back the keen that left his mouth, throwing his hand up to muffle the sound, suddenly very aware that they were in a public alley where anyone could just walk in.

But Amaimon's mouth was stretched around him and he'd never felt anything like it before.

It became obvious to Rin within moments. Amaimon was really, really good at giving head.

Rin panted, chin tucked towards his chest as he found his eyes glued to the sight of the demon's lips moving along him, cheeks hollowing and tongue flattening to the underside of his length to apply delicious pressure.

Then Amaimon pulled Rin's hand away from the wall and placed it on his head and Rin felt his breath stop in his lungs, realizing what the demon was asking for.

He flashed back to the way Mephisto had taken Amaimon's mouth just the night before and he moaned at the thought, fisting his hand in the demon's dark green hair.

Amaimon hummed around him, the vibrations tightening Rin's stomach as heat coiled through and began to overwhelm him.

His vision felt hazy, hypnotized by what Amaimon was doing. He hesitated before pushing at the demon king's head, watching the demon's eyes shutter closed.

Rin gave a few experimental pushes until Amaimon flashed him impatient eyes and he gave in to the urges he'd been resisting.

He shoved into the tight heat, finding no resistance, bringing Amaimon all the way to his stomach, pulling him back until he was almost off and then bringing him back again.

He was entranced, thrusting into Amaimon's mouth at a faster rate and still finding no resistance.

Rin gave in then and gripped Amaimon's hair harder, bringing his hips to meet the waiting mouth, his own thrown open in a soundless gasp as he felt himself nearing completion.

His blood rushed in his ears, everything else muffled, and the world narrowed down to just the two of them in the alley.

Amaimon slid his hands up Rin's heated sides, scraping his claws along his skin, the light pain sending electricity through his nerves until the demon found the base of his tail and squeezed.

Rin came with a shout, pushing Amaimon's head into his stomach and holding it there as he released into his throat.

The earth king swallowed, taking Rin down without any hesitation and Rin groaned at the sight.

His legs trembled, strength leaving them until it was only Amaimon and the wall holding him up, totally spent.

Amaimon drew back to lick at his bruised mouth, lips stretching into a satisfied smile as he surveyed his work.

Rin gave up and slid to the ground beneath him, legs coming out to frame Amaimon's kneeled form.

He heaved out shuddering breaths, staring up with wide eyes at Amaimon.

His eyes traveled the demon's body until he saw how tight his pants were and realized the other still hadn't come.

Rin pushed himself up, bringing his hands to Amaimon's hips and enjoying the way the demon leaned into his hold, hands coming to wind around his shoulders.

"Thanks, Amaimon," Rin grinned up at him, resting his cheek against the other's trembling stomach and pressing his mouth to the cloth covered skin, "I forgive you."

He brought his hands up to Amaimon's belt, quickly undoing it and his pants until he was presented with the demon and hesitated, not knowing how to precede.

"Just be careful with your teeth," Amaimon offered, appearing calm but for the way his pupils were focused utterly on the sight of Rin's mouth centimeters from his length.

"Kay," Rin agreed, opening his mouth and taking Amaimon in, trying not to let his fangs anywhere near the sensitive skin.

Amaimon was a heady presence on his tongue and Rin took as much of him in as he could before he has to stop, not having the other's lack of a gag reflex. He could feel Amaimon trembling, knew the demon was forcing himself not to move, to let Rin take his time figuring out what to do.

Rin tried an experimental suck, tonguing at the underside of Amaimon's head and tasting the pre-come that dripped out into his mouth at the move.

He looked up at the demon and froze at the hungry look in the lidded eyes and flushed cheeks.

He tried a light trail of the tip of his tongue, watching to see the reaction on Amaimon's face and purring at the shudder it sent through the demon's frame, deciding he really liked seeing the different ways he could make Amaimon react.

The vibrations his purr send through Amaimon made the demon release a low gasp and Rin realized he wanted to hear him make louder sounds. He thought he understood why Mephisto and Amaimon always tried to get him to make those sounds now.

Well, Rin narrowed his eyes, determination taking over him. He had a mission now.

He brought his hand up, grabbing the base of Amaimon's length and squeezing at the same time as he began sucking in earnest, bobbing his head over the demon as best he could.

Rin kept his eyes on Amaimon's the whole while and let him see as he brought his other hand up to pull at the tucked in shirt, sliding inside it to find the demon's tail.

Rin trailed delicate claws over the smooth scales at the base a satisfied feeling hitting him as Amaimon finally let out a moan, hands clenching at Rin's jacket as he bowed his body over Rin's head.

He dragged his hand over the tail while at the same time dragging the flat of his tongue over Amaimon's slit, his eyes closing to half-mast as he concentrated on his task.

Amaimon was panting against him and Rin knew he was doing everything in his power not to thrust into his mouth. The thought seared its way into his head, seeing the way Amaimon had let him do so earlier and imaging what it would look like the other way around.

He would learn to do what Amaimon could if it took him a thousand years, Rin decided before he gave a firm tug to the demon's tail and felt him stiffen in his mouth, only to cough as Amaimon came, releasing into him.

He tried but couldn't swallow, feeling the hot liquid escape the edges of his lips to trail down his chin and finally pulled off to cough to the side, eyes squeezing shut as tears prickled at the corners.

Amaimon slumped back on his legs and Rin licked his lips, looking to the demon to see how he'd done.

Clawed hands gently turned his jaw, bringing him forward until Amaimon was licking at his face, cleaning the trails of his release off.

Rin felt his eyes close, relaxing into the ministrations as another soft purr left his chest.

Claws brushed over his cheeks, running up and tracing at Rin's brows as Amaimon pulled back, satisfied with his efforts.

Rin forced himself to open his eyes before he got too comfortable, the sounds of the crowd finally filtering their way into his senses.

"I'm glad you came here with me, Amaimon," Rin said, breaking the silence and moving to kneel over Amaimon's folded legs to bring the earth king into a hug.

"I told Samael and Lucifer," Amaimon spoke over his shoulder and wrapping his arms around his back, "in this war, I've chosen you.

* * *

They cleaned themselves up and made their way up to the shrine, not bothering to search their section. The rest of the group was already there, even Kuro, who'd made his way on his own after Rin had ditched him to chase after Amaimon.

Kuro shot him a look, clearly guessing at what he'd been up to and Rin really hoped no one else suspected that he'd been neglecting the mission in favor of making up with Amaimon.

That was when Takara popped back up, a new puppet in his possession that turned out to be one of Izumo's fox-demon summons, Mike.

Rin listened in distressed silence as he learned about the horrible past Izumo had struggled through, the manipulations of the Illuminati into conducting experiments on her mother as the host of the Inari fox-demon, with her and her little sister set aside as replacements, to create an elixir for Lucifer making him grit his teeth in rage. And now Izumo had been kidnapped to replace her mother as the host of the Inari demon as her mother's body was giving out after the years of abuse.

He suddenly understood why she kept such a distance from them. Why she had trouble trusting them.

He vowed to make it up to her once she was rescued and safe at home.

Through it all, Amaimon remained silent at his side, blank-faced as he listened to his brother's crimes. Rin wasn't sure what he thought about it all, whether he felt any pity for the humans whose lives had been ruined.

Although Rin could see some of the wary looks his friends kept sending the earth king and he just wanted to tell them to- stop- but he knew his friends would have to take their own time to trust Amaimon the same way they'd done for him. And, Rin grimaced, shooting his own look to Amaimon, the demon would have to learn to like his friends, or at least tolerate them, too, so they could all be in the same place without threatening violence.

He was distracted out of his daydreams of all his friends and Amaimon getting along when Yukio told them their destination. An underground lab with an access point in the Inari Stay With Me Mall where the brainwashed people would enter and never leave, used in whatever elixir experiments were being conducted there.

Rin allowed himself to brush his hand against Amaimon's as he prepared himself to enter the lab. He didn't know what they would find in there, if they'd be able to rescue Izumo and get Shima back with them, if Lucifer was somewhere in there, waiting, and how or even if Rin would be making up with Mephisto when he made it home.

But he had Amaimon next to him as a steady presence and his friends in front of him and he was going to push forward until things were right in the world.

He took a deep breath, got out the Koma sword, and went to storm the base.

* * *

Ooh buddy I could not figure out where to cut this chapter off but it's already running on 20 pages and I'm just going to start the next chapter with the end scenes for this chapter so it doesn't turn into a massive monster lol

According to the outline I was forced to make this fic has turned into a 10 chapter beast, and seeing as we're already at 35 k with the addition of this chapter I can only shudder in horror at what the end length of it is gonna be. So wish me luck :D


	6. Demonic Shovel Talk

A/N Rin gets the demon equivalent of the shovel talk. Someone's gotta defend Amaimon and Mephisto's honor against Rin's human tendencies and it might as well be their older brother. Ambrosia makes her debut in class. Lighting is a bit too interested in Rin for Mephisto's tastes. Also, Mephisto's not looking so good as his body continues to deteriorate from holding the Gehenna gate closed for so long. Rin gets to play mother hen. Rin is thrilled.

I'm gonna have Rin drag Mephisto kicking and screaming into a relationship. At least Amaimon will get to enjoy Mephisto's suffering.

Something I'm wondering about. How much of what Mephisto can do is something Amaimon (and the rest of the demon kings, possibly Rin too?) can do when it comes to the whole finger snapping thing? Like, we see in the anime/manga Amaimon snaps his fingers to start the rollercoaster ride in the amusement park (and lights up the rest of the park too while he's at it). But I haven't seen him use the ability since. Is Mephisto just a show off? I'm gonna make it a thing the demon kings can do for reasons, kay?

Also, I thought I'd share the playlist I've been listening to while writing this. I went ahead and compiled a list of songs that either reminded me of Rin, Amaimon, and Mephisto (and any combo between them), or seemed to be them talking to one another, and some that just fit the theme (really wishing we had amv's for aoe like the Naruto fandom has tbh).

Guess which songs apply to which characters ;)

You can find it on spotify under "aoe blue exorcist Mephisto Rin Amaimon" if you search for it! (I think. I usually use Pandora so I'm not sure how to make shareable playlists lol)

* * *

"Amaimon!"

Rin cried out as he was separated from the others, reaching out a hand as he fell into the literal hole that had opened in the floor beneath their feet. The last thing he saw was Amaimon's face, a mixture of fear and anger in the earth king's snarled roar that followed him down.

He landed with a dull thud, choking a cough out at the impact, body stunned and disorientated by the total darkness of the room he'd found himself in.

He blinked, his eyes turning into their more demonic slit-pupiled form as they adjusted and his blue flames appearing on his head to give him a better idea of where he was.

Where he was looked like a cell and he felt a sinking sensation that had nothing to do with the fall he'd taken.

And then the cell was lit by a blinding light and Rin hissed, covering his eyes at the shock, raising Kurikara in defense of what he couldn't see.

He blinked black spots out of his vision and froze.

Because there was Lucifer, demon king of light, standing just a few feet away and Rin knew how outclassed he was.

"Hello, Rin."

The demon's voice was perfectly genial but Rin sensed something lurking just beneath his placid expression that told him to be extra cautious.

"What do you want?"

Rin swallowed when his question got him narrowed eyes and a slight frown from Lucifer.

"I see you take more after Amaimon than Samael in your manners," Lucifer sighed, coughing, and Rin winced as the demon's hand came away with flecks of blood staining it.

Still.

"Huh?"

Those golden eyes pierced him and felt like he was being examined under a microscope.

"You carry both Samael's and Amaimon's claims on you," Lucifer continued, causing Rin to flush because, once again, his relationship was apparently out in the open to any demon that cared to look and he still couldn't sense what they were talking about at all.

"Amaimon's loyalty is hard to come by, yet he has given it to you," Each of the demon's words was stated as if he was accusing Rin of something. He just couldn't figure out what, yet, and it was making him feel cornered.

"Did you know he has remained neutral in the countless years I and Samael have had our opposing sides in our conflict despite every effort on both our parts to sway him?"

Rin widened his eyes, because no, he hadn't known that about Amaimon and his mind flashed back to the demon telling Lucifer in no uncertain terms where to shove it. Because the earth king had decided to side with Rin, whichever path he chose.

"Yes, you see now," Lucifer frowned down at him, "I hope you show the care that loyalty demands."

Rin glared at that, feeling his hackles rise at the implication in the demon's words, "I didn't force him to join me, or manipulate him into it. Maybe that's where you guys went wrong."

"It's in our nature," Lucifer cocked his head, unable to understand why he shouldn't apply force and manipulation to get what he wanted.

"And," he continued, gold eyes narrowing further, "Samael does nothing but manipulate. Assiah, Gehenna. Both worlds and every creature on them are his toys. His to choose whether they are destroyed like vermin or kept like amusing pets."

Rin flinched at that reminder about Mephisto's ways, though he found himself grinding his teeth around a welling anger at the way Lucifer was talking about the other demon king.

"Yet he shows worrying tendencies towards you that I can't understand," The first signs of actual emotion appeared on Lucifer's face. A confused disdain at whatever 'worrying tendencies' he had seen in Mephisto when they'd interacted that he was for some reason attributing to Rin's influence.

"Alright, that's it," Rin growled, unable to take any more of the demon king's backhanded comments whose purpose he still couldn't understand, "I didn't exactly throw myself at those two. I didn't ever ask them to interfere with my life."

"But," Rin felt his eyes twist into flames, baring his fangs at the elder demon to make sure he got his point across, "Mephisto and Amaimon are mine and I don't give a damn what you think about it."

Lucifer reared his head back and Rin thought he was about to get demolished for pissing him off. But wracking coughs began to overtake the demon king until he knelt to the ground, blood splattering the tiles beneath his feet.

"I see," Lucifer panted around bloodstained teeth, shaking at the pain his body was in but still sounding calm and Rin had to marvel at the control the demon showed.

"I'll take my leave, then. Thank you for speaking with me."

And Rin was left alone in an empty room, Lucifer vanishing in a sudden absence of light that had him blinking to adjust.

He didn't have time to contemplate the weird exchange for long. The lights turned on and he was besieged by the twisted remains of one of the experiments and he had to escape the cell so he wasn't forced to kill the poor tortured human.

Then he didn't have the luxury of worrying about anything except the mission, putting the conversation out of his head to think about later.

* * *

Izumo was safe. They'd managed to save her from her body's rejection of the Inari fox demon's possession, is what Rin kept telling himself.

The bitterness of defeat still ate at him. Because Shima was a confirmed spy, had almost gotten Izumo killed for the organization he'd been a part of before since he even joined the cram school, having been a spy the whole time Rin had known him.

Rin watched their back-up move in to secure the area. His part of the mission was over and now there was nothing left to do except head home and back to classes.

Izumo was safe.

That would have to be enough this time.

Amaimon had gone, not wanting to be around a bunch of annoying exorcists. His words, not Rin's. The earth king had been frantic in Rin's absence, tearing up parts of the base to find him until he'd escaped from the cell. But once everything was over and the demon was assured Rin was okay he'd left using a transportation key.

Things were out of Rin's hands now and all that was left was to head back to the academy.

* * *

Rin yawned, sending a sleepy 'good morning' over to Yukio as they got ready for classes.

They separated, Yukio to teach and Rin to head to his first class of the day, not looking forward to seeing anything related to math or its problems but forcing himself to go anyway.

He'd just reached the hallway to the classroom when his heart skipped a beat.

Amaimon.

Rin could smell the demon somewhere nearby and he couldn't help the excitement that raced through him at the thought of catching sight of him.

He walked into his class and almost fainted, giddiness overwhelming him and a grin making his cheeks ache.

"Ambrosia!"

Because there was Amaimon, sitting cross-legged on a desk and making his way through a bag of chips, sitting on the one in front of the one Rin was assigned to.

And he was dressed in the girls' school uniform, short skirt, black tights and all.

His hair was back up in a messy bun, choker around his neck, and make-up applied to mask his masculine features without being as heavy as it had been on the festival night.

Rin remembered, then, that the demon was now signed up for classes as Ambrosia Faust, niece to Johann Faust and would be joining Rin. The thought sent another rush of happiness through Rin, who was suddenly looking forward to classes the rest of the year, no matter what subject they were.

Amaimon looked up at his entry and Rin saw the faint un-tensing in the demon's eyes and posture at no longer being alone, surrounded by humans. Not that anyone else would be able to pick up on it, the demon exuding an air of menace that kept the other students in a wide circle from him, terrified at the obvious danger.

"Ah, Rin!"

Rin glanced up, a little surprised that his professor was talking to him with such relief evident in his voice when usually he addressed Rin with resignation at his terrible grades or irritation when he caught Rin sleeping in class.

"It seems you know our new student, Ms. Faust," the man trembled as Amaimon's eyes snapped to him at being mentioned and he hurried on, "why don't you sit next to her and make sure to answer any questions she might have."

Rin narrowed his eyes when he caught the professors muttered, 'so I don't have to,' at the end of his request.

But Rin just smirked at the man, loving how having Amaimon here was already having perks. It all worked out in his favor to be responsible for the demon. He definitely would not be complaining and hoped it was the same in all his other classes.

"Sure thing," Rin chirped, turning his back to the professor to head over to Amaimon, lips widening at the answering smirk on the demon's face, "I'm happy to help Ambrosia with anything she needs."

Amaimon's pupils slivered at Rin's light words, clearly imagining what he could help him with as Rin walked up to where he sat on the desk.

"I'm so happy, Ambrosia," Rin repeated, standing so he was almost touching the other, enjoying how everyone seemed to be holding their collective breaths as he got so close to the dangerous new person in their class.

Amaimon propped himself back on his hands, staring up at Rin as if asking him what his next move would be. So Rin smiled down at him and leant over to claim his mouth in a kiss.

He thought one or two people may have collapsed at the sight, the professor sputtering something about PDA in school, which Rin happily ignored to keep kissing Amaimon.

Rin pulled back to see Amaimon's pupils dilated in pleasure at having Rin stake his claim in front of everyone. That accomplished, Rin brought a hand up to the demon's shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze before moving to sit at his desk like things were business as usual.

The rest of the class passed in a blur once the professor was able to begin teaching. Rin spent the time tracing his eyes over Amaimon's body in front of him, feeling a low purr going through him and knowing the demon could hear him by the way the his pointed ears twitched back at the sound.

The end-class bell finally rang and Rin was already up and moving to Amaimon's side, hooking his arm through the other's and pressing against him as the exited the room ahead of all their petrified classmates.

He nosed at Amaimon's neck, closing his eyes as he inhaled, happy to let the demon lead them to their next class. Well, Rin felt a laugh try to bubble up, who knew if Amaimon was in all his classes, or if the demon even knew where to head next. Rin was okay skipping the rest of the day if it meant he got to spend it with the earth king.

Actually, now that he had the demon there, Rin opened his eyes as he made his request, careful not to use Amaimon's real name in case there were any nosy exorcists were around.

"Hey, I've been thinking, Ambrosia," Rin watched the demon's gold eyes flick down to meet his, "can we play together sometime? Like I thought you meant the first time?"

The earth king stopped, a visible shudder going through his body as he turned, eyes dark with excitement, on him, "I thought you didn't want to?"

Rin grinned up at him, "as long as we're not trying to kill each other I think it would be fun. We should today after school before I have to go to cram classes."

A wide, toothy smile met his, Amaimon obviously approving of his idea before the demon looked away to glare at their surroundings.

"How much longer do we have to stay here? I'm already bored."

Rin gave the poor earth king a dry grin. He'd wondered how long it would take the other to start complaining about being bored.

"You can always just do what I do to pass the time and sleep through the boring parts."

Amaimon let an irritated puff of air escape his mouth to move the stray strands of hair in front of his eyes.

"Rin! Ambrosia! Hi!"

Rin turned to grin at Shiemi as she approached alongside a frowning Izumo, who'd probably been dragged up to meet them.

"Hiya, Shiemi. Hey Izumo. What's up?" Rin said once they got close. Amaimon was back to watching the girls with a blank expression.

"I saw you with Ambrosia and wanted to introduce her to Izumo since she didn't get a chance to meet her at the festival," Shiemi said, smile bright in the face of Amaimon's expressionless face and Izumo's scowling one.

"Great idea, Shiemi," Rin turned his own grin to Izumo, leaning back into Amaimon, "Izumo, this is my girlfriend, Ambrosia Faust. She's Amaimon's daughter and Mephisto's niece. Ambrosia, this is my friend, Izumo."

Amaimon didn't change his expression and Izumo didn't lose her scowl, both of them giving each other suspicious looks before nodding, apparently deciding that was good enough.

Rin shared a long-suffering look with Shiemi and they giggled at the other two's ridiculousness, giving it up as a lost cause before heading to their next classes. He found Amaimon did, in fact, share all the same classes as he did and wondered if he would thank Mephisto for the meddling before or after he got his retribution from the demon.

Finally, the bell rang to let them out for the day and Rin shared an excited grin with Amaimon, the two taking off to find somewhere to play.

* * *

Rin let out a whoop, laughing as he sent another swath of blue flames into the boulders Amaimon brought up to stop him.

He fell through the air to cut the stone into rubble, already launching himself at the retreating form of the other demon.

He understood why the earth king had wanted to play with him like this now.

Getting to let loose on the careful control he kept on his flames, to be able to fling himself into a fight knowing his opponent could more than keep up, was exhilarating.

He brought Kurikara down to meet Amaimon's claws, sparks flying when the two forces met and Rin found himself flung to the side with a heave of Amaimon's arms.

He torqued his body mid-air to land in a crouch, feeling his fangs bared in a wide smile as Amaimon came at him again.

The earth king slammed a fist into the ground and Rin didn't react in time, stumbling on the shaking surface and slipping down when a gaping crevasse opened beneath his feet.

Rin fell, hand reaching to grab at the wall when instead he felt his descent stopped with a sharp jerk on his arm, looking up to see Amaimon had caught his hand in his to keep him from dropping to the bottom.

He gave him a sheepish smile and Amaimon hauled him back up to safety.

Rin found himself flat on his back with an excited earth king trying to burn the rest of his adrenaline off another way.

He moaned as Amaimon ground their hips together, the demon already hard over him, and his mouth was claimed in a rough kiss.

Amaimon brought his teeth into things and Rin felt his fangs elongate in response, hissing as he tasted blood and letting a growl rumble through his chest.

The demon wasted no time in freeing Rin and himself from their clothes to get the contact they needed.

He panted into Amaimon's mouth as the other moved their hips together in a rhythm-less slide of heated skin, bringing his legs up around the waist over his to encourage the demon to press harder against him.

Rin came with a low cry, head dropping back as Amaimon kept going for a few more moments before finishing too.

They lay next to each other on the hard ground, winding down from their exertions until they could breathe normally.

The uncomfortable sensation of cooling liquid on his stomach made him sit up, grunting at the effort of moving just then.

Amaimon squinted up at him as if wondering why he was moving already before the demon brought his fingers up to snap and Rin found they were both cleaned and clothed.

Rin blinked down at himself, "wait, you can do the same thing Mephisto can?"

Amaimon sighed, letting his head fall back to the ground, "it's boring to rely on it. And Mephisto just likes to because he's flashy."

"Oh man, that's so cool," Rin grinned, contemplating his own hands, "hey, do you think I can do it too?"

Amaimon shrugged, "no clue."

Rin pouted but realized the earth king probably really didn't know, considering Rin was a bit of a unique case as far as half-demons went.

"Wait," Rin shot up, "what time is it? Yukio's gonna kill me if I'm late again!"

"Who cares what he thinks," Amaimon grumbled.

Rin just grinned at Amaimon's put-upon look, knowing the demon was annoyed at having his fun interrupted.

But they headed back, Amaimon pressing him against the side of a building to drag him into one more heated kiss before they reached the school proper and he left to do whatever it was the earth king did with his free time. Rin was a bit curious about that, figuring he'd ask the demon about it later.

* * *

Rin practically floated into class, good mood making him feel like he was walking on clouds and he found himself smiling at nothing in particular.

"Woah, you're in a good mood, Rin."

Rin turned his smile to Bon, the other having been the first to acknowledge him when he'd entered the classroom.

"It's because his new girlfriend is in all his classes," Izumo huffed in irritation from over where she sat next to Shiemi who beamed with how happy she was that Rin was getting to spend time with Ambrosia.

"Really? That's great, man," Bon gave him a thumbs up.

"Who's Ambrosia?" Konekomaru asked, being the only one who hadn't met her yet.

Rin gave the explanation he'd given to everyone else watching Bon and Koneko's eyes widen as they learned about Ambrosia being Amaimon's 'daughter.'

It made Rin feel a ridiculous amount of joy just to talk about Ambrosia with his friends, already thinking about the day he could clue them in on who she really was so he wouldn't have to hide.

A voice interrupted.

"Oh, man. Can't you guys tell? Our buddy, Rin, is glowing over here because he's getting some hot demon tail, obviously. Congrats on beating me to the punch on that, by the way, Ambrosia's a babe. A bit short in the chest department but boy does she have legs for days, if ya know what I mean."

Rin turned, the conversation shocked into silence at Shima's entry into their class.

"Hey guys," Shima grinned, rubbing the back of his pink-haired head, "miss me?"

What followed was a serving of holy retribution heaped on their friend turned spy, no mercy shown as he felt the brunt of their wrath.

"Ah, please, let's not bully Mr. Renzou any further, everyone."

Rin turned from where he'd been apologizing to Izumo for getting a bit carried away with his flames and burning all Shima's clothes off, vengeance forgotten the instance he heard that voice.

Mephisto sat in dog form in front of the downed Shima before poofing back to himself to address the stunned group.

Rin was torn between his conflicted emotions towards Mephisto. He didn't really know what he felt, given what little he knew about the demon king's true intentions and future schemes, the talk with Lucifer having shaken him a bit.

But, once again, there was something about being in the demon's presence that soothed him and Rin had to resist going over to bury his face in the other's chest and surround himself with his scent.

Getting to work things out with Amaimon had gone a long way towards calming his anger towards Mephisto, too, but he knew he still needed a chance to talk with him alone before he could feel settled.

Judging by the glance Mephisto sent him, the demon already knew what was running through his head.

Rin blushed when that look turned into a sly smile as Mephisto took a deep breath through his nose, realizing the elder demon must have been very aware of how he'd spent the past hour with Amaimon.

"I've got a troublesome guest from the Vatican waiting for me and unfortunately I'm going to have to cut this reunion short so I can take you all to meet with him."

Rin blinked as Shima was snapped awake and re-clothed by Mephisto and another blink found the exwires in the demon's office.

Yep, he was blushing again. Rin found his eyes glued to the infamous desk he'd become intimately acquainted with the last time he'd been in Mephisto's office. He could even see the claw marks he'd left in the wood.

The heated look in the demon king's green eyes from where he stood just a foot away from Rin, hint of a fang showing in his smirking mouth, told Rin he knew exactly where his thoughts were.

"Holy shit! Sir Phele's abilities are always so dramatic. Like magic!"

Rin jerked around at the unknown voice coming from the door behind him. A second later the smell hit him and he wrinkled his nose in disgust. Did this guy not shower?

"Hi, I'm Lewin Light," the man introduced, hand coming up to scratch at his dark tangled hair, "nice to meet you all!"

At his friend's exclamations, Rin learned the unkempt foreigner was actually an arc knight known as Lighting, right hand to the Paladin and an un-paralleled expert in chants and summoning. Bon seemed taken with the knight already and Rin was reminded that his friend was an aspiring aria, making Lighting something of a celebrity to him.

"Wow!"

And Rin found his nose assaulted as Lighting got in his face.

"Are you Rin Okumura? Satan's kid?"

Rin shuddered as his personal space was invaded, the exorcist rubbing his stubbled cheek against Rin's like a lion marking its territory, hand coming up to grab the back of his head so he couldn't escape like he very much wanted to.

"I've always wanted to meet you."

There was something weird about the way Lighting said that, Rin decided. And, now that he was up close, he could see under the shaggy fringe to a penetrating stare that made Rin feel like he was being dissected alive.

His ears caught the sound of a low growl, too soft for human senses to pick up on, and he found himself tugged back and behind Mephisto.

Lighting just looked up with a suspicious smile on his face, studying the way Mephisto had reacted with unusual interest even as he was met with teeth bared in a grin that only just pretended at being friendly.

"Why don't we try to stay on track, hmm?"

Rin could have kissed the demon right there for getting him away from Lighting, edging further away behind Mephisto.

"Ah, right, right," Lighting gave a laugh, the sound artificial somehow, "take a seat, everyone."

They complied, moving to the couches and chairs set around a coffee table in the center of the room. Although Rin sent a distressed look to Mephisto at having to leave his protection and sit anywhere near Lightning again.

By the way Mephisto grit his teeth together, eyes darkening as Rin went to join the others, Rin could tell he wasn't happy about the arrangement either.

"We're here to discuss whether or not Shima can be trusted. And you, as his close friends will determine that," Lightning began, voice cheerful despite the topic of conversation.

"And, if he isn't," the smile on the knight's face turned cruel, "then we torture him to find out what he knows about the Illuminati."

A shocked silence met Lightning's statement.

Rin let out a heavy exhale, looking at the nervous grin on Shima's face and not knowing how much of it was real.

"That's obvious," Rin said, leaning with his elbows on his knees to stare Shima in the face, seeing the hopeful expression there, "we can't trust him at all."

Rin ignored all the gasps at his declaration from the other exwires, ears perking as he heard from the one voice he was waiting for.

"Oh? That doesn't sound like you, Rin."

Rin turned his flat stare to Mephisto, "it's your fault he's not trusted. He is your spy."

Mephisto's mouth twitched in a smile, "very astute of you."

Rin pushed a long breath through his nose, feeling a headache coming on.

"He's got a point!"

Rin blinked up at Izumo as she began her tirade against Mephisto. The demon having kept the secret of her little sister's location from her when he'd known about it all along, only revealing the location to her after the last mission.

The floodgates opened, each of the exwires declaring the ways in which the demon had manipulated events in their lives, including the impure king mission and all the way back to asking Yukio to test Rin with the hobgoblin attack his first day of class.

Then Yukio leveled the greatest charge, looking almost manic as he shouted at the demon king.

"And the biggest mystery is why you allowed the bastard son of Satan to survive!"

Rin felt his heart drop at the way Yukio phrased his demand for answers.

It hurt.

He knew Yukio wasn't the biggest fan of demons, had taken becoming an exorcist as almost a punishment. But this was just one of the many times his twin was directly talking about Rin when he spoke about demons like they were a curse word.

Evil.

Wrong.

Rin turned his eyes away from his brother's accusatory face, barely hearing as Mephisto described how they were his precious pawns, essential in the fight against Lucifer.

Yet another thing to bring to the table when he cornered the demon later.

Because…

Rin scowled, seeing how Mephisto caught his gaze, though the demon didn't bring any attention to it.

He did not like being thought of as just a pawn in Mephisto's games.

"Ahaha I can see why Sir Pheles isn't trusted around here!"

Rin glared at Lightning, transferring his irritation back to the knight, whose voice was starting to bother him now, though he had no idea why it would.

"But we've digressed from the point. Which is whether Shima can be trusted."

"Please guys!" Shima turned panicked eyes on the other exwires and Rin still couldn't trust a single word out of his mouth or even the expression on his face but…

"I trust him."

Rin watched Bon stand to stare down at his childhood friend, leading the charge as the rest of the exwires declared their trust in Shima.

Finally, Rin sighed, "I won't let him get tortured. I trust him too."

That was the signal Lightning was waiting for. Laughing and standing as he let them know he'd been planning on letting Shima leave the whole time. The arc knight let himself out with a cheery reminder that he would be sending confidentiality agreements for them to sign based around Shima's situation.

Rin let out a shaky breath, glad the exorcist was gone and feeling his body relax by a hair.

"Well, that was a delight, as always, from Mr. Lewin. Professor Okumura can I count on you to tell Miss Kirigakura about the matter discussed here?"

Yukio nodded, that dangerous, unhinged, look still in his eyes that scared Rin to see.

"You're lucky to have such friends, Mr. Renzou," Mephisto continued, smiling at Shima.

"Oh yeah, that was a pretty rough situation, huh guys?' Shima laughed, hand rubbing at the back of his head in exaggerated relief.

"I'll leave you all to get reacquainted with each other, shall I?"

Mephisto waved the exwires out the door, "except you, Rin. I'd like to request a word with you."

"About what?" Yukio asked, voice pointed as he glanced between the two demons.

Rin winced at the look in his twin's eyes but waited to see what excuse Mephisto would use this time to keep him behind.

"Ah, I'd just like to ask Rin how my favorite niece's first day at school went," the demon king smiled in the face of Yukio's suspicion.

Rin perked up at that one, realizing he could use the excuse himself if he ever wanted to escape to Mephisto's place.

"Sure," Yukio narrowed his eyes, though in the end he was forced to accept Mephisto's words.

"See you late, Rin."

"Yeah, see ya."

The door clicked shut and Rin slumped into the couch, rubbing his hands over his arms in an effort to comfort himself.

The silence continued until Rin looked up, seeing Mephisto waiting in his seat at his desk for him to make the first move.

There were a million ways Rin could open with, starting and ending with all the things he was angry at the demon about.

But…

"I really hate that Lightning guy," Rin muttered, head bowing down again as the memory of being touched by the exorcist sent a wrench of pain through his chest, revulsion making him shake.

He turned, desperate, back to Mephisto.

"Please get him off of me."

Rin closed his eyes as he was folded into a protective embrace, bringing his arms up to clutch at the suit Mephisto was wearing and letting out a shaky exhale, finally releasing the rest of the tension in his body.

"If he wasn't such an important piece in my plans I would have killed him where he stood before he could have even entertained the thought of touching you."

Rin pressed his forehead harder into Mephisto's chest, breathing deeply and allowing himself to just exist, cocooned in the demon's presence.

A strange scent hit his nose then and he pulled back, frowning.

It smelled like the scent of decay and he was brought back to his interaction with Lucifer.

"Mephisto, why do you smell like you're rotting?"

The demon king just continued to stroke at his hair, setting his chin down on his head.

"There's nothing you can do to help with that particular problem, I'm afraid."

Rin frowned at the avoidance of the question but parried with one of his own, "I met Lucifer at the Inari Shrine again."

Mephisto tensed at that, pulling back to watch him with narrowed eyes.

"What did he say?"

"Tell me and I'll tell you," Rin quirked his lips up at the twitch his words caused in the demon.

Turnabout was fair play, after-all.

Mephisto gave him a rueful smile, "well played, Rin. Alright. There is an artificial Gehenna Gate that the Illuminati is trying to open. I have stopped time around it to prevent it's widening further, however, it is only a stop-gap and my body is paying the price. There are a few months before I will be forced to release it and demons will flood the land."

"Now, your turn."

Rin stared at the revelation he'd just been handed. The insight into one of the demon king's ever spinning circles reminding Rin that the stakes were never higher in the games being played.

"He told me Amaimon's been neutral the entire time you two have been at war and that I should show his loyalty the care it demands," Rin offered, keeping his eyes on Mephisto in the hopes that the demon could clarify what Lucifer had been getting at.

"He also said you were showing worrying tendencies and for some reason it sounded like he was blaming me for them."

"I don't know why he told me or what he meant by any of that," Rin scowled, still frustrated at the king of light's confusing words.

He startled as Mephisto began to laugh, chest shaking against his and Rin glared, not seeing what was so funny.

"I'm surprised you didn't recognize what was happening, it's most certainly a human tradition, not a demon one," Mephisto grinned down at him.

"What was happening?" Rin pouted, not liking that he'd missed something obvious.

"You've just had the dubious honor of receiving the first shovel talk ever given in demonic history," Mephisto laughed again, "and by Lucifer himself!"

"Shovel what?" Rin asked, not enjoying being laughed at but liking hearing the sound from Mephisto.

Actually, Rin narrowed his eyes. This may have been the first time he'd ever heard the demon laugh. Not snicker, not cackle, or mock, but laugh with real humor not hidden behind a facade.

Rin determined to make Mephisto laugh like that again as many times as he could.

"I suppose you've never been on the receiving end of one before," Mephisto chuckled, pressing a kiss to Rin's head, "our dearest older brother was merely threatening you into taking care with my and Amaimon's hearts. Very dutiful of him, I must say."

"That's what he was doing?" Rin yelped out, "I thought he was insulting you guys or something. It made me really angry!"

"I told him I didn't give a damn what he thought, you and Amaimon are mine," Rin growled at the remembered exchange, gripping at Mephisto tighter as if to make his point.

Mephisto just laughed harder, tears prickling at the corners of his eyes.

"Oh, I can only imagine the look on his face," the demon gasped, bringing his head down to Rin's shoulder, "it must have been beautiful."

Rin grumbled at Mephisto's reaction but felt a twin smile form on his face at the contagious quality of the demon king's laughter.

"Yeah, well, it's none of his business anyway," Rin resolved, tilting his head up to it rest on the demon's shoulder as he glared at the ceiling.

"Ah, I can't recall the last time I had such a good laugh. Thank you, Rin," Mephisto beamed down at him.

"I think I'm the one who's supposed to be getting cheered up, not you," Rin huffed out, realizing his anger at the demon had evaporated.

He was pulled into a soft kiss, the demon king carding his claws through his hair, massaging the areas of tension Rin hadn't realized were still there.

"You're right, Rin. Please allow me to make it up to you."

Rin hummed his pleasure, leaning into the soothing touches, though a worrying thought made its way to his mind, "are you okay though? Isn't your body in pain from holding the gate closed?"

Mephisto pushed him back on the couch, nosing at his throat, "this body of mine is in constant pain. I have only slowed my degradation, as being the king of time allows me to do. Were it not for that ability, I would be in the same state as Lucifer."

Rin brought his arms up around Mephisto's shoulders, saddened at the revelation.

"But wait, is Amaimon degrading too?"

He found one of Mephisto's fingers at his lips, a request for silence.

"Amaimon has found and possessed his perfect body, he will no longer suffer degradation. But hush now, you're not supposed to be worrying about these things while I'm trying to apologize to you."

Rin laughed, pulling Mephisto up into a kiss.

"Okay, I won't worry about you two right now. No promises about after."

"Good."

A sigh left his mouth as Mephisto ran warm hands down his stomach, the demon reaching up to unbutton his uniform and expose his chest.

The demon trailed his tongue down the revealed skin and Rin shivered at the pleasant tingles the action elicited, head falling back and eyes closing to get lost in the sensations.

A snap of Mephisto's fingers and their clothes vanished to reappear folded on the chair next to them.

"Amaimon says that's being lazy and why he doesn't do the same thing," Rin pointed out, opening his eyes as he teased the demon king.

"Amaimon will get what's coming to him next time I see him," Mephisto promised, smile on his face and growl in his voice and Rin almost felt bad for the earth king. But not if he got to watch them again.

Rin let out a breathless moan as teeth scraped over his chest and his body was weighted down by Mephisto's, hands coming up to grab at the demon's purple hair and press him closer.

He arched into the hips above his, trying to increase the friction between their bodies and whining when Mephisto pulled away instead.

"Human's believe patience is a virtue, you know," Mephisto teased back as Rin growled at the lack of contact.

"Lucky I'm a demon, then," Rin responded, reaching to grab the demon's hips in his clawed hands to try bringing him back to his previous position.

"Ah," Mephisto tutted, not allowing himself to be moved, "I believe you'll want to wait for this."

Rin pouted again but settled back down to see what the demon would do.

He was treated to the sight of Mephisto's tail unwinding from his waist before it disappeared behind the demon and Rin felt his mouth go dry as he realized what the other was doing.

"Do you know," Mephisto panted as he thrust his own tail into his entrance, "Amaimon is the one who showed me this. He's quite creative, that one."

Rin couldn't respond to that, letting out a strangled sound as he watched Mephisto shudder over him and a flush rise to the demon's pale cheeks.

Rin was shaking almost as much as Mephisto by the time the demon finished, the anticipation of what his reward was going to be sending his pulse skyrocketing.

He gave a helpless groan as Mephisto grabbed his length and positioned himself above it, sinking down until Rin was completely enveloped in the tight heat and fighting not to immediately begin pushing up into it.

Mephisto smiled down at him, enjoying the look on his face.

When the demon king finally decided to move Rin found his hands at the legs straddling him, claws biting into the skin of Mephisto's thighs as the demon rode him in slow, teasing motions of his hips.

The sight of the demon's hips gyrating over his was hypnotic, stomach stretching and shifting in a mesmerizing play of muscles that had Rin panting at the sight of.

Rin could see the blood-stained patch of gauze on Mephisto's shoulder where he was degrading and he frowned at the sight, rubbing soothing hands over the demon's thighs and wishing he could do more.

"I believe I told you not to worry about what you can't change, Rin," Mephisto said, accenting his words by picking up the pace and causing Rin to moan, throwing his head back at the suddenness.

"Ah- why can't you just- hah-ah," Rin tried to get his thoughts in order, finding it almost impossible with the ever-increasing speed and thrusting up to meet it as much as he could.

"Just let the gate open?" Rin groaned, hands tightening on Mephisto's thighs and drawing blood.

"What?" Mephisto's green eyes widened in surprise and then the pupils dilated as Rin brought his bloodstained claws to his mouth to lick the blood off them with the point of his tongue, his own eyes half-mast as he focused on tasting the demon king.

"Why not?" Rin demanded, then, holding Mephisto's gaze, "there's already exorcist schools around the world that know how to handle the bad demons. If they teach everybody else then it won't matter if everyone knows about demons. We wouldn't have to hide."

"And you won't have to rot like this," Rin finished, bringing himself up and wrapping his arms around the body over his as he glared into Mephisto's stunned face.

Mephisto let out a helpless groan, the changed angle hitting the sensitive nerves inside him and making him shudder against Rin.

Rin didn't let him respond, flipping the demon king onto his back on the couch and thrusting into him, hands at his hips to keep him there until Rin could bring his tail into play.

The demon's glazed eyes tracked Rin's black-furred tail as it slipped around his length. Rin held it there, loose, not giving him the pressure he needed, only teasing him with the sight as Rin looked down at him with the same impassive face he'd worn while watching Mephisto take Amaimon just a few days before.

But Rin seemed to be waiting for something and Mephisto groaned again when he realized what the demon prince wanted from him.

"Please, Rin."

Rin smiled and Mephisto didn't get a chance to think anymore as the tail tightened over him and stroked at the same time as Rin thrust into him, pushing him into the couch with the force of his movements.

Seeing Mephisto come undone was one of Rin's new favorite sights, right next to watching Amaimon. Even better when it was him doing the undoing to them.

The tight pressure, heat, the muscles clenching around him as Mephisto let loose all those delicious noises Rin had been hoping he'd make, had Rin groaning his release into Mephisto head dropping as he worked his tail over the demon until he followed suit with a shattered gasp.

Mephisto's chest heaved, the demon king's hair mussed against the pillow he laid against and eyes dazed as Rin slid out, making a mess on the couch cushions beneath them.

Rin returned the favor, laving his tongue over the mess on Mephisto's stomach to clean him as he'd done for Rin the last time, enjoying the twitches every pass of his tongue elicited.

He didn't get as far as he'd like before Mephisto recovered, pulling him away and into a heated kiss.

"You are a treasure, Rin," Mephisto panted against his mouth, green eyes capturing his as the demon looked at him with something like awe.

"I always thought you were a little draconic," Rin grinned into the possessive kiss he found himself in again.

He settled over the demon's body, relaxing fully and knowing Mephisto could take his weight, though he was careful not to touch the area around the gauze.

He nosed at Mephisto's neck, breathing in their mingled scents and dragging his tongue over the pulse, enjoying the hitch of the demon's breath in his ear.

"But seriously, why can't you just let the gate open?"

Mephisto brought a hand up to run through his hair and Rin purred at the feeling, letting his eyes close to the ministrations.

"You'll have to trust this is another part of my strategy that I will have to maintain to keep everything moving as planned," the demon admitted finally, pressing his hand to Rin's head.

Rin glared into Mephisto's neck, holding his hand over his heart to feel its reassuring beat.

"Fine. I don't have to like it, though."

Mephisto let out a quiet laugh, "no, you don't have to like it."

"And," Rin said, propping himself up to look down into Mephisto's eyes, "I want to cook for you."

Mephisto blinked up at his out-of-the-blue request.

"You want to what?"

Rin laid his head back down on the demon's chest, letting the heartbeat he found there echo through his ear, "I want to cook a meal for you. It's what I do best and it's something I can do for you, even if I can't help any other way."

Understanding came to the demon king, then, and Rin found himself pressed against Mephisto's chest in a hug, "I see. Although, trust me when I say you do many other things outside of your formidable cooking abilities that I find quite helpful."

"Hmm," Rin didn't bother responding to the compliment, snuggling further into the embrace as he began to doze off.

"I suppose we'll discuss how Amaimon's first day of class went at a later point, hm?"

"It went awesome," Rin mumbled, closing his eyes and giving up on staying awake.

Mephisto smiled, letting the heat of Rin's perpetually warm body blanket him and coiling his tail around Rin's where it draped over the side of the couch as he, too, drifted off to sleep.

* * *

I keep thinking, TBOE, one of these chapters you're gonna run out of different ways for these three to sex each other up, and then the moment to write the scene comes and the muse, she comes too :DDD


	7. Bathhouse Shenanigans

Bathhouse Shenanigans

A/N Shima puts his spying talents to use and reveals Ambrosia's big secret. Rin finds he's okay with that, actually. Well, he will be. Amaimon gets his own shovel talk from the queen of shovel talks, herself, Shura. Rin is a huge tease for almost a solid hour of earth king torture and, in the end, nobody gets to relax.

So, what I believe Rin does to Amaimon and Mephisto is induce the same urge humans get when they see something small and cute, like a kitten, and our lizard hind-brains can't handle it so we want to crush the thing that is causing the feeling to get rid of it (true fact, look it up). We don't, we just squeeze the poor creature in a hug and pretend to bite them until the urge passes (you can imagine what a demon's reaction would be) :D

Also, this was supposed to be an Amaimon chapter, seeing as Mephisto got his turn last chapter. Mephisto had other plans lololol And I was not planning on this chapter taking the turn into angst-ville hurt/comfort territory but there you have it :D

Man, Yukio's a bit of an s.o.b. (no offense to Yuri) huh :\ Somebody get that guy some therapy :\:\:\

* * *

Rin settled into his seat while he waited with the other exwires for Yukio to arrive for another day of cram classes.

Shima was back with them and he must have talked with Bon and Konekomaru because they weren't ignoring him anymore. Things were almost back to normal amongst the group.

"Rin," Bon leaned back in his seat to look over, cocking his head at him, "I hear Ambrosia's been terrorizing all the professors in her classes and sleeps through the rest of them."

"Everyone's talking about her," Izumo rolled her eyes at having to relay gossip, although the slight pinking of her cheeks made Rin think maybe she was more interested than she was letting on.

"Oh yeah," Rin grinned, resting his chin in his hands on the desk, "she's great. I don't even get yelled at in class anymore since they're too scared to say anything with her around. I can sleep without them bothering me now!"

"Hey! How're you supposed to learn anything if you're both sleeping in class, huh?"

Rin ignored Bon's complaints, back to daydreaming about a certain demon king.

Shima had a vacant smile pasted on his face, taking the conversation in as he thought about the force of nature known as Ambrosia.

"You know," Shima began, leaning his cheek on his fist as the other exwires focused on him, "It's amazing how she stays so thin. It's gotta be a demon thing because every class I have with her she's going through entire bags of those suckers like they're, well, candy."

His grin turned deviant as he leered at Rin, "I think your girl's got an oral fixation, man. How does that translate in bed, hmm?"

Rin glared at the spy, "how about none of your business?"

"Ehehe I'll just keep that thought to myself, then," Shima backtracked, waving his hands to pacify Rin.

"But it's kinda funny," he continued, apparently not having any real survival instincts to speak of as Rin narrowed his eyes further, daring him to keep talking, "it took me awhile to place it, but she eats the same brand of cherry suckers that her good old demon dad does."

Rin froze, not sure he liked where the conversation was heading, "so what?"

"I couldn't help noticing she's also the same height as Amaimon, too," Shima smiled even wider, leaning back in his seat and turning his face to the ceiling in contemplation, "same hair color, same eye color, same face shape, nose, lips, the way she walks- you get to noticing these things when your job is observing."

"They could be twins, they look so much alike."

Rin felt his lip curling over a fang, horror welling up in his belly as he realized Shima knew about Ambrosia and Amaimon somehow.

"Oh my god."

Rin flinched to look over at Konekomaru and felt his heart plummet into his stomach when he saw the dawning understanding in the intelligent exwire's eyes.

"Rin, he can't mean?"

"Mean what?" Shiemi looked lost, but she was the only one.

Rin opened his mouth to say something, seeing the shocked expressions on Izumo, Bon, and Koneko's faces as they each realized the same thing.

"Ambrosia really is pretty flat-chested for a girl, huh?" Shima pressed instead of coming right out with it, "but for a guy, I'd say she's exactly flat-chested enough."

The door opening interrupted whatever Rin was going to try to say, not that he even knew what he could say.

"Okay, everyone, I'm here. Sorry I'm late."

Yukio blinked in confusion as he took in the stunned silence instead of the usual chorus of greetings he got.

"Ambrosia is Amaimon!"

Rin jerked his head towards Bon at the exwire's exclamation, feeling his heart stop as the truth was blurted out right in front of the one person least likely to take it well.

"What?"

Rin ignored Shiemi's puzzled outburst, eyes on Yukio as he waited to see how his twin would react.

"Yukio, I-" Rin cut himself off as cold eyes turned on him, shrinking back into his seat.

"He's right isn't he?"

The icy question made Rin wince. He'd known the other wouldn't be happy.

"Rin!"

Yukio's angry shout jolted him and he nodded, averting his eyes to avoid witnessing what his confirmation would do to the other.

"I can't believe this," Yukio hissed and Rin felt like curling in on himself at the disgust in his twin's voice, "are you insane? He's the demon king of earth, a maniac without a leash. He attacked us for fun. Twice!"

The rest of his friends were silent in the face of Yukio's accusations and Rin had no idea what they could be thinking, finally giving in to the urge to curl up in his chair as if the physical action would protect him from further abuse.

"He's not like that," Rin found himself muttering into his chest, wishing he could come up with a better defense. But he'd always had problems confronting his twin.

"If the Grigori find out you've been fraternizing with a demon king they may decide to lift the suspension on your execution," Yukio pointed out with bitter efficiency, ignoring the way Rin hid his head.

"You're going to stop seeing him."

Something in Rin snapped.

Or maybe that was the surface of the desk in his hands when he'd gripped it too hard.

Rin stood up, releasing the shattered pieces of the desk from his clawed hands and listening as the sound of them dropping to the ground echoed in the classroom.

Gasps came from the rest of the exwires and Rin turned hollow eyes down to his arms to see them lit by his blue flames.

He brought his gaze back up to meet his twin's and saw the other recoil at whatever he saw in the expression.

"Yeah, Ambrosia is Amaimon," Rin began, voice coming out frost-bitten despite the fire he was surrounded by, "and I don't really care that you think you've somehow got a say in whether I see him or not."

Yukio came back to himself, glowering at the response, "how can you not see how crazy it is? Did you forget what that demon did? To Konekomaru, to Bon and Shima?"

Yukio narrowed his eyes, playing his trump card, "did you forget what he did to Shiemi?"

Rin reared back, snarl bubbling, furious, to his lips at the way his twin tried to use Shiemi to manipulate him, as if he'd ever forget the realities of who and what Amaimon was.

"Yukio! Leave him alone!"

Rin jerked his head towards Shiemi, eyes widening as he took in her tears and the way she'd stood, hands gripped on her desk and expression imploring, to defend him.

"You shouldn't say those things about Rin, or Ambrosia!"

Yukio was too stunned to answer, taken-aback as Shiemi yelled at him.

"Can't you see how happy Rin's been? I've never seen him this way before," Shiemi gestured, flinging her hand towards Rin as she continued, "you're his brother. You should be happy for him too, not hurting him like this!"

"Shiemi- I didn't mean," Yukio trailed off, unable to respond in the face of Shiemi's emotional rebuke.

"Hey, I get what you're saying, teach'," Rin flinched again, this time at Bon as the other spoke up, "Rin's not known for his intelligent decision making."

Bon narrowed his eyes down at Rin, crossing his arms as he came to a decision.

"But Shiemi's right, too. If Rin's happy then we've got to support him, no matter what."

"Who cares if he's dating Amaimon, anyway? Personally, he could be dating a rock and I wouldn't care. It's none of our business," Izumo sniffed, turning her nose up at the thought.

Rin could only stand in frozen silence as his friends came to his defense, feeling a trembling smile try to come out as his flames dissipated.

Konekomaru let out a shaky breath, the last to speak up, "Amaimon is terrifying. And dangerous. And a demon- one of the eight kings of Gehenna, in fact."

"But Rin is the literal son of Satan and we're- his- friends."

He turned a bright smile on Rin, who felt his breath catch in his lungs as he waited for his friend's final pronouncement, "if we can put up with Rin I don't see why Amaimon's got to be any different."

Rin finally turned back to Yukio, waiting to see how his twin would react, now that he'd been backed into a corner.

"I'm just trying to protect him," Yukio stammered, unable to understand how the tables had turned on him.

Rin stalked up to him, though he didn't bother meeting his eyes, looking over his shoulder to the door as he spoke, voice hard, "if you care so much, take it up with Mephisto."

He brushed past Yukio, knocking into his shoulder on the way by but stopping at the door to quirk a small smile at his friends, "thanks for having my back, guys."

"Except you, Shima, you're a jerk."

Rin left the room to Shima's wounded exclamations, knowing he'd never be able to focus in class with how hurt and angry the fight with Yukio had made him feel.

He wanted to see Mephisto, Amaimon, too, if he could find the other, wishing he had a way to contact the demon.

Direction decided on, Rin made his way towards Faust Manor, hoping Mephisto would be there, and if not, that he'd be able to hide in the demon's bed until he didn't feel like crap.

He'd known Yukio would be upset, furious, actually. His twin barely seemed to tolerate him these days, having gone back to his routine of skipping dinner to, as the excuse was this time, work on some secret exorcist training he wouldn't tell Rin anything about.

He'd found himself at the gated entrance to the long driveway up to Mephisto's place without noticing, blinking as he tried to remember the journey he'd taken to get there and finding he felt too tired to bother fighting through the haze.

He leapt the gate and in another blink was at the door, knocking and waiting, listing to the side on dead feet.

The one who opened the door wasn't Mephisto and Rin stared up at the dark-haired demon, suited up like a butler, blank-faced in his surprise.

"Ah, Master Okumura, please come in. Sir Faust isn't here presently, however you're more than welcome to wait for him in the meantime."

Rin was led into the mansion, curiosity pushing through the haze as he realized he'd never actually seen the rest of Mephisto's home.

It was almost exactly what Rin had expected of the eccentric demon king. Oddities were perched on cluttered shelves right next to expensive-looking furniture and artwork in the massive rooms that worked like a maze and Rin knew that if he were to wander off he'd find himself lost in seconds.

"Would you prefer to wait in one of the guest rooms or perhaps the entertainment room?"

Rin shook his head, feeling his cheeks pink at the request he was about to make to the stranger.

"Could I go to his bedroom, actually?"

The demon very carefully didn't react to that, something Rin was eternally grateful for as they headed up to Mephisto's room.

Rin stood awkwardly to the side as the demon opened the door to let him in, gesturing with a spread arm, "please, make yourself at home. I shall let him know when he returns that you are here."

The demon turned to leave but Rin called out, hesitant, "thanks, uh."

"Belial, Master Okumura."

"Thanks, Belial," Rin finished, watching the way Belial cocked his head to consider him before leaving in silence.

Finally.

The door closed behind him and Rin was already stripping off his outer uniform and shoes until he was left in just his boxers.

He scrambled beneath the plush pink duvet covers on Mephisto's ridiculously comfortable bed, burrowing his head in the mounds of fabric and surrounding himself with the scent of the elder demon.

He realized he was shaking, then, unable to remember when he'd started but finding he was unable to stop now that he'd noticed.

Was Yukio right to be mad at him?

When was the last time he'd spent around his twin that felt like it had any real meaning to it? That wasn't just the two of them going through the motions, pretending to be brothers but as close as strangers?

The tears started then, hot trails down his flushed face as he bit off any whimpers that might escape.

Was it the start of his year at the academy when he'd been teasing Yukio about being too serious, the way his twin organized his multiple pairs of glasses, or had problems finding a way to tell his many admirers he wasn't interested but was too polite to manage?

Rin curled into a ball, knees clutched to his chest and tail wrapped tight around him in a poor mimicry of a hug to comfort himself as he realized he couldn't think of a time when Yukio hadn't been hiding from him.

From the moment Yukio had begun exorcist training with Shiro at seven years old, and even before that when he'd been able to see demons because of the temptaint he'd gotten from Rin in the womb, and never revealed either of those things, Yukio was cutting himself away.

Rin gasped out a sob, clutching a clawed hand to his chest as if he could tear into his ribcage and remove his heart.

He winced as he found he'd accidentally dug his claws into his skin, the pain and scent of his own blood making everything seem worse somehow and he wished Mephisto would hurry up and get home.

Rin fell asleep to the thought, exhausted and hoping he'd wake up, all the revelations he'd just had forgotten, and that he could go back to thinking things were better than they were between he and Yukio.

* * *

You've got a visitor, sir.

Rin Okumura.

He smelled… distressed.

Yes, he's in your room.

* * *

He woke to a warm hand rubbing through his hair and sighed, pressing into the comforting motion, finally feeling the tension in his stomach unknot.

"I can smell your tears and blood, Rin. Is there someone I need to eviscerate, and do you have their name to make it easier to hunt them down? Or must I search them out on my own?"

Rin didn't answer, instead choosing to uncurl himself from the cramped ball he'd been in and wind his arms around Mephisto's waist, burying his head in the demon's robed lap.

He stayed like that, letting Mephisto's presence soothe him until he thought he might drop back off to sleep.

"They found out about Amaimon and me," Rin mumbled, the sound muffled from where he had his head hidden in the folds of fabric.

"Ah, I see."

"Yukio was so angry at me," Rin managed to force out, hunching his shoulders and feeling trembles returning to his body, "we fought. I left. I had to before I did something stupid. Like I always do."

He found himself pulled up and settled, secure, in Mephisto's lap, his head brought to tuck into the demon's neck.

Rin inhaled, body shaking and felt new tears start to wet the material under his cheek. His tail wound itself around the demon king's back where he was propped against the many pillows on the bed, needing to get as close as possible and finding nothing was close enough.

"Well, I can't eviscerate your brother, unfortunately," Mephisto commented, rubbing a hand over his back, "although I may have to lock Amaimon up to prevent him from making the attempt."

Rin let out a huff of air, the humor distracting him from his spiraling emotions.

"I just realized," Rin sighed, voice heavy and his eyes closing as he nuzzled further into Mephisto's neck, "I don't know anything about Yukio- if he even likes me at all. I think I spend more time with my friends now than I do him. He's gone most days, so I only see him in class and in the mornings, and sometimes not even then."

"Your brother is rather repressed."

Rin snorted, understatement of the year.

"I'm not sure there's any advice I can give you to handle him. He's very single-minded."

Rin moved back to quirk a small smile at the demon, rubbing at his flushed cheek with his palm to wipe away another one of the tears that escaped, "that's okay. I didn't want advice. I just needed to be here."

He found his hand pulled away and the demon king's tongue tracing along the tracks his tears had taken, cleaning his face.

Rin let him, eyes closing at the ministrations.

He blinked them open when Mephisto moved to his chest and realized he had five bloody patches over his heart where he'd gouged his claws earlier, wounds long healed but skin stained with dried blood.

"At least now I don't have to pretend with Amaimon anymore," Rin tried, brightening as the revelation came to him and smiling down at the head at his chest, "and besides Yukio, my friends didn't care, they're okay with it!"

Mephisto sat back up and brought Rin's hand to his mouth, cleaning the blood he'd gotten on his fingertips, too.

Rin shivered at the light sensation, something about the way Mephisto traced his tapered tongue over the pads of his fingers and down to the sensitive skin between them making him flush.

"I wish I didn't have to pretend with you, either."

"It would certainly make my life easier," Mephisto said against his hand, pressing a kiss to the palm, "at the very least I would have the freedom to keep that grubby, worm of an arc knight away from you."

Rin brought his hands up to the purple hair that framed the demon king's face, bringing him into a soft kiss.

Mephisto broke away to study him, draconic green eyes luminous in the darkness of the room and Rin felt his pulse pick up.

"Ignoring the reason you ended up here in the first place, I find I enjoy coming home to discover you in my bed."

Rin flushed again at the dark rumble that went through the elder demon, realizing he was already almost naked, and he doubted Mephisto had anything on under his robe, either.

"If I could, I would never let you leave it."

And Rin was on his back, head against a pillow and being pressed into the thick mattress by a clawed hand on his chest.

He grinned up at Mephisto, his furred tail moving up so that it brushed against the demon king's clothed back from where he was straddling Rin.

"I knew it, you're definitely some kind of dragon," Rin teased, smile impish, "you wanna hoard me like one of your weird collections of otaku stuff."

"I'll have you know that those collections are all rare, limited additions and worthy of being collected," Mephisto sniffed.

"Much like yourself, actually," he continued, gaze covetous as he let his eyes wander the way Rin's body was splayed over the covers of his bed.

Rin let himself be coaxed into another kiss, shivering at the loose friction of the silk robe rubbing over his bare skin.

"If you say so," he sighed, relaxing into the covers as the demon king drew his claws lightly down his neck and traced at his collarbones.

His tongue followed close behind, leaving wet trails to cool on his skin in the air of the room.

Rin watched, eyes hooded as Mephisto made his meandering way over his body, teasing as he avoided moving to where Rin really wanted him.

The slow torture continued until Rin was a writhing mess on the bed, trying to arch up into Mephisto's mouth only to have the demon pull away, or hold his hips down to keep his touches just short of ticklish.

A litany of pleas left his lips, Rin barely aware of what he was saying as long as it convinced the demon to stop teasing, dammit!

Mephisto just licked at the jut of his hip bone, smiling like he didn't know exactly what he was doing.

Rin felt his throat go dry as his boxers were tugged down and his length released to Mephisto's heavy gaze, the demon leaving his own robe on.

Rin noticed he'd lost control, then, ears and fangs elongating and knowing his eyes had taken on their slit-pupiled form by the way he could see things so much more clearly in the darkness of the room.

"Mephisto."

The demon arched a brow at the way he'd growled his name, letting his pointed tongue loll out to hang centimeters away from Rin so he could feel warm breath brush over his skin, leaving goosebumps in its wake.

At the first touch of that tongue to his length, Rin gave a low groan, watching as it wound around him, Mephisto swallowing down until he was fully covered.

Rin realized the demon shared the same oral capabilities Amaimon had displayed and found himself heating at the thought.

He felt renewed determination to learn the technique, and it was the last coherent thought he had as Mephisto started sucking.

Rin lost himself to the feeling, hand coming down over the demon's head and trying to push up into his mouth only to find his hips being held down as the torture continued.

He understood now how frustrated Amaimon must have been at him for the way he'd teased the earth king during the festival.

Rin was back to begging, panting out the demon's name while Mephisto ignored him to apply just enough pressure to torment and not enough to come until Rin thought he might die there, held on the edge.

He watched with glassy eyes, meeting the smirking green ones holding his gaze as the demon king opened his mouth to let Rin see the way his tongue wound around him, fangs bared in a playful threat over the delicate skin there.

Rin had enough.

His tail shot up to wrap around the demon's neck, squeezing there as he narrowed his eyes and growled again.

"Mephisto, stop teasing."

Mephisto tilted his head back, letting Rin see the way his tail pressed his throat in as he increased the pressure around his neck and Rin felt a dark thrill run through his body at the sight.

"The way you use that tail of yours is so…inventive," Mephisto said instead of complying with Rin's demand.

Rin squeezed harder, watching the way Mephisto gasped as his air was cut off with sudden interest.

When he tugged his tail back towards his body, Mephisto followed suit, allowing himself to be led until Rin had his head back at his length.

"Stop. Teasing."

Mephisto shuddered at the command, panting without air as Rin still hadn't released his throat from his tail.

When the demon's eyes began to glaze over Rin finally loosened his noose, seeing dark bruises had formed around Mephisto's neck to replace the coils of his tail.

Mephisto gagged, heaving as air returned to his aching lungs and tears pricking at his eyes until his healing kicked in and the bruises started to fade. Rin narrowed his eyes, almost tightening his tail again to stop them from disappearing.

Once again, understanding reached him as he realized why Mephisto had been so taken with the bruises he'd sucked into his skin that day in his office.

"Such a demon you make," Mephisto was finally able to gasp out, a vicious glee in his voice at what Rin had done to him.

Rin glowered at him for continuing to talk instead of act until Mephisto swallowed him down again, answering his unspoken demand.

Finally.

Rin threw his head back as Mephisto stopped teasing and began sucking in earnest.

The demon king moaned around him and Rin looked up to see him twisting his hips into the coils of his own tail in lieu of using his hands so he could focus on finishing Rin.

Rin could feel himself moving into Mephisto's throat through the loops of his tail still curled around the demon's neck, could see the way those lips stretched around him with each thrust, and he came, then, feeling the demon swallow around him until he was spent, collapsing to the bed with a silent moan.

He kept his eyes on Mephisto, watching him bring himself off with his tail, shuddering above Rin when he finally came.

Rin un-wound his tail from the demon's neck, letting it drop to the bed in exhaustion. Mephisto crawled the last few feet to lay next to him, bringing his teeth to nibble at the tip of Rin's pointed ear.

"I believe I'll be using that technique on Amaimon the next time I see him."

The thought of that, delivered in a breathless voice next to his ear, brought a low moan from Rin and he turned his head to press his teeth to Mephisto's neck, tasting the salt of his skin.

"Not without me there, you're not," Rin grumbled, not wanting to miss out on seeing his two favorite demons together.

"He'll be displeased to know he missed out on the fun this time, to be sure," Mephisto smiled to imagine the other's irritation.

They lay like that, enjoying the afterglow until Mephisto shifted, looking down at him, "I was going to offer your exwires this as a reward for all the recent troubles you've experienced. It seems you'll be needing the bonding time more than ever, now."

"Offer what?' Rin blinked up at him.

"Tickets to a rather nice bathhouse," Mephisto shrugged, "that brother of yours surely needs to relax."

"That's if Yukio even decides to go," Rin said, knowing the likelihood of his twin actually going out with his friends to be slim-to-none.

"Ah," Mephisto grinned, pressing his nose to Rin's hair and inhaling as he ran a clawed hand through the mussed strands, "but if I give the tickets to Miss Kirigakura, who's nicely recovered from Lucifer's attack on the Grigori now, he'll have no choice but to attend. She won't let him hide."

"Hah!" Rin snickered, feeling vindicated, "yeah, she'll kick his ass out of the house if she has to."

"Good, it's decided then," Mephisto settled further against him, "why don't you go back to sleep. I imagine you'll be having an interesting day tomorrow at the bathhouse."

"I know I will," Rin responded, voice haughty, "because I'm going to bring Amaimon."

He tilted his head back to see how Mephisto liked his idea. By the toothy smile on the demon's face he figured his proposal had gone over pretty well.

"I may have to be a fly on that wall when you show up together. Tomorrow is looking very promising."

Rin draped his tail over both their hips, letting the furred tip brush down the small of Mephisto's back. By the glint in the demon's eyes it almost prompted another round, but Rin just nestled further into the bed and allowed himself to drift into a dreamless sleep, his worries finally chased away for the moment.

* * *

Rin awoke for the second time in Mephisto's bed to the mattress dipping and a warm body draping itself along his back. He was smiling as, a second later, he was enveloped by the scent of Amaimon, turning in the bed so he could face the earth king and finding himself faced with a sulking pout.

"Mephisto told me what happened."

"Sorry, Amaimon. I would have tried to go to you, but I don't exactly know how to contact you so Mephisto was my best option," Rin said, guessing at the reason for the demon's mood.

Amaimon narrowed his eyes before digging into one of the pockets of his coat to drag out a pink cellphone that had been a gift from Mephisto the elder demon forced him to carry.

Rin blinked as the phone was dropped next to where his hand was curled by his chest.

"Add your number," Amaimon ordered, his blank face still somehow conveying his impatience.

Rin beamed at the demon, quickly doing as ordered and handing the phone back.

"Hey, uh, where is Mephisto?" Rin realized to ask.

It was morning now, light streaming in through the wide veranda windows to reveal it was just Rin and Amaimon in the room.

Amaimon shrugged, moving closer to pull Rin to his chest, "he left to go deliver something to his exorcists. I didn't pay attention."

Rin perked up, "we're going to the bathhouses today!"

"You're coming with, right?" He turned imploring eyes on the earth king.

Amaimon frowned against his hair, tightening his arms around him as he considered the request.

"Your humans are going to be there, aren't they?"

Rin shoved at the demon until he was on his back, moving until he straddled him and grinning at the interest that flashed through his gold eyes, "they figured out who Ambrosia really was. I don't have to hide you anymore."

Amaimon's interest sharpened, seeing as Rin was still fully naked except his black furred tail wagging in the air behind him. The demon tracked its movement with his eyes until Rin leaned down, pressing his hands into the pillow on either side of Amaimon's head and catching his gaze with his.

"It'll be fun. Trust me," Rin said, smile playful as he hinted at something Amaimon couldn't guess at.

The door opened before Amaimon could answer.

"Well, isn't this a lovely sight."

Rin sat back up, smiling over his shoulder as Mephisto closed the door and leant against it, taking in the scene before him.

"Mephisto! Did you give them the tickets? When are we going?"

"It's as I suspected," Mephisto began, walking over to the bed with a smug smile on his face, "Miss Kirigakura gave your brother little say in the matter and has contacted all the exwires to let them know to meet in half an hour."

Rin brightened even further, and his tail began to wag harder in excitement. Amaimon wanted to grab it.

"I used to go all the time as a kid. I can't wait!"

He blinked as Amaimon shifted to push himself up, finding the earth king's usual blank expression in place, and hesitated, asking again, "you're going with me, right, Amaimon?"

"They won't turn the water into holy water, will they?"

Rin snickered, leaning his forehead down to rest on Amaimon's chest, "that would really suck. I don't think so though."

Amaimon settled his arms around Rin's back and shrugged, "I'll go."

"Yes!" Rin cheered, rubbing his cheek against Amaimon's with an affectionate purr and returning his embrace.

Before Amaimon could do anything else, Rin disengaged, hopping off his lap and out of the bed with a little wobble as he almost tangled himself in the sheets.

"I'm gonna go get ready!" Rin ignored Amaimon's pout and searched until he found where his clothes had been folded, grabbed them, and ran off to the bathroom.

Amaimon twitched his now empty clawed hands, shooting a glare over at Mephisto as the other poorly hid a laugh behind a cough.

"You interrupted us."

"The early bird gets the worm, as the humans say, Amaimon," Mephisto smirked, mocking, as he took in Amaimon's irritation, "you should have gotten here sooner. He was beautiful."

"I don't like human sayings," Amaimon glared, "and I don't like humans, especially exorcists."

Mephisto just sneered down at him from where he stood at the corner of the bed, crossing and tapping a pointed black claw against his arms, "you'll be seeing quite a few of them soon."

"I hope you'll be able to manage with so many in the same room as our dear, vulnerable Rin, who'll be in a state of -complete- undress."

Each word hit Amaimon like a spear through the chest, and he felt his eyes widening even as Mephisto's narrowed with the demon's spreading grin.

"No doubt he'll have his tail out and on display for all to see. He's got quite the inventive streak, so he may or may not even realize what he's doing to you."

Amaimon stared up in dawning horror at what he'd just gotten himself into, jerking a frantic look back at the bathroom Rin had disappeared into before returning to glowering at the smug elder demon.

"How long will it be?" he hissed, clenching his claws in the sheets as he tried to resist the urge to strangle Mephisto.

Mephisto hemmed and hawed, head tilted in exaggerated contemplation until Amaimon's rising growl prompted an answer, "oh these things can go all day- that is the pass I got them, you see. But I doubt they'll stay that long. Perhaps two hours?"

"You've tricked me into two hours of torture!" Amaimon was growling loudly now, imaging the suffering he was walking into.

The bathroom door opened and Rin bounded out, freshly showered and smiling with unfiltered joy, unknowing what he'd just disturbed.

Amaimon felt his heart plummet, knowing he'd be unable to back out now without hurting Rin- he'd rather tear off his own tail, actually- and began, instead, to gather his defenses in preparation at what was ahead.

One thing was certain. Amaimon was going to kill Mephisto.

Later, he decided, staring into gleeful green eyes and gritting his teeth as he got out of the bed. He made sure to let the fastidious demon see him get his dirty shoes all over the covers and smiled at the aggravated twitch he got in return.

Rin was oblivious to all of this.

Amaimon wanted to devour him to get rid of the ridiculous feelings welling up in his chest at the sight of the young demon pulling Mephisto down by the long strands of his hair that framed his face for a sweet kiss.

Amaimon frowned, chewing at his clawed thumb. Where was his?

As if summoned, Rin appeared in front of him and Amaimon accepted his own kiss, vindicated.

He sent a narrowed eyed look to Mephisto as he deepened the kiss until he had Rin panting and glazed-eyed in his arms with parted, spit-slicked lips that Amaimon drew his tongue across to send a shiver through the younger's body.

He smirked up at Mephisto when he decided he'd taunted him enough. Not, of course, that it made up for what he was about to head into but at least he felt better for the moment.

The fanged smile pasted on Mephisto's face that promised pain later was worth it as Rin recovered, pretty blush staining his cheeks and grinning up at Amaimon with an adoration that he could get used to.

Maybe they wouldn't have to go? Amaimon turned hopeful eyes on Rin, wondering if he could distract him enough to forget the bathhouse. But the half-demon had already escaped him.

"Thanks, Mephisto," Rin called out, dashing Amaimon's hopes as he ran to the door and smiling back at him when he didn't move fast enough, "come on, Amaimon, we're gonna be late!"

"Have fun, you two!" Mephisto said, voice cheerful.

Amaimon hid a sigh and shoved his hands in his pockets to follow Rin out the door, brushing past Mephisto on the way.

A clawed hand at his nape stopped him in an iron grip and he froze.

"Do take care not to kill any of those exorcists, Amaimon," Mephisto breathed against his ear, sending a thrill down his spine at the danger in the other's voice, "Rin would be very upset with you."

Amaimon nodded his understanding, not knowing what the punishment for upsetting Rin would be but suspecting it would be the worst he'd ever felt from the elder demon.

"Good."

He found himself pulled into a rough, possessive kiss that left him breathless when he was released and shoved unceremoniously towards the door.

He shot one more scowl, rubbing at his lips, at Mephisto before catching up to Rin and exiting the mansion to head to the bathhouse where the humans would be waiting.

Something of his reluctance must have shown in his body language because Rin was looking at him with a slight frown, eyebrows drawn down in concern.

"Hey, I won't let them bother you, you know," the half-demon started, intertwining his hand with Amaimon's and bringing it up to toy with his clawed fingers, "they really were ready to get to know you when they found out. And I'm sure they talked to Yukio after I left so he shouldn't bother you either."

Amaimon tightened his grip, trying to hide the tension he was feeling from the other, "I don't trust exorcists."

Rin laughed, shaking his head in self-deprecation and rubbing his thumb over the back of Amaimon's hand, "yeah, I didn't trust them in the beginning either. But so far they've proven themselves to me. Just give them the chance to prove themselves to you. Okay? And if they don't, then that's okay, too. As long as everyone tries."

"Except Shima. The spy. Don't trust him," Rin added, glaring as he thought about the traitorous human in their ranks.

Amaimon snorted, nosing against the shorter demon's hair as they neared the bathhouse coming up at the end of the road, "trust one of Mephisto's spies? Never."

And there was the waiting group of humans, standing and chatting as they waited for Rin's arrival before heading inside.

Amaimon watched them freeze in the distance as they recognized Rin wasn't alone, a few of them closing ranks as if preparing to defend themselves. He almost gave them a reason to before he looked down and saw Rin's nervous smile, clearly trying to put up a brave front, and calmed himself.

He'd try to get along for Rin's sake. Or, at the very least, avoid killing anyone to avoid Mephisto's punishment.

Then Rin tensed and Amaimon looked up to see what could have caused the reaction, narrowing his eyes as he wondered if he'd get to kill something or someone after all.

"Uh oh," Rin muttered, eyes fixed on the red-haired female exorcist shooting a dagger-filled smile straight at Amaimon, "I forgot Shura never got introduced to you as Ambrosia and I never told her about us dating. Yukio must have filled her in and I'm pretty sure it wasn't nice."

It was too late to back out, they'd reached the group.

Amaimon sent them a dead-eyed stare, hoping they wouldn't make things difficult. He tightened his grip on Rin's hand, pulling it towards him, and saw the humans' eyes lock onto the movement as if in sync.

That seemed to be the catalyst needed to start things off.

"Rin! You're finally here, kid!" That red-headed exorcist cheered, though Amaimon could see the grin hid teeth as she glared him down from where she stood next to Rin's human twin.

"Here's the tickets. Why don't you head inside with your friends, I gotta have a little chat with Amaimon here so we can straighten some things out and then we'll join you."

Amaimon hissed under his breath as the woman's arm came around Rin's shoulder and she led him away into the waiting group of humans watching the proceedings with wary eyes. He almost didn't let Rin's hand go, but, seeing the half-demons anxious smile up at him made him after one last tight squeeze, hoping to get this encounter over with as soon as possible.

The hatred in the human twin's eyes as he turned to follow the others inside made Amaimon's hackles raise, wishing he could answer the brat's challenge but knowing he was another untouchable piece in Mephisto's and Lucifer's plans.

He didn't get a chance to respond anyways as the woman stepped in front of him, blocking his view, arms crossed over her ample, scantily clad chest, though there was nothing seductive about the look she was giving him.

"You've got some nerve."

Amaimon growled, flexing his claws, but kept them at his side, trying for a calm he didn't feel, "I don't have to answer to you."

"No, I guess you don't," she narrowed her lavender colored eyes, the striking hue accented by the hard way she examined him, and he remembered, then, having faced the brunt of one of her powerful attacks in the forest.

She was one of the more troublesome exorcists his brother had.

"Let's just make one thing clear, then."

Amaimon found a sword at his throat, snarl rising through his chest and lips pulled back over his fangs in surprise at the bluntness of the attack.

"I don't know how you weaseled your way into his heart," Amaimon froze as the blade drew a line of blood from his neck, "but I'll be watching you. And if you make one wrong move, I don't care if you're the seventh or the first of the demon kings of Gehenna. I'll kill you."

She quirked a cruel smile at him, pushing her sword further to emphasize her point before pulling back and flicking the blade to remove his blood.

Amaimon brushed his finger across the line of blood trailing from the already healed wound, bringing it up to lick it away and eyeing the woman in contemplation of her words.

She was already turning to walk away, a bold move considering who she'd just attacked.

"What's your name."

She stopped, cocking her head back at him over her shoulder with her own considering look before she quirked a wry smile.

"It's Shura Kirigakura. Nice to officially meet you, Amaimon."

Amaimon nodded and followed her in, the humid scents of the bathhouse hitting his nose as he searched out one particular scent.

And there was Rin, the half-demon standing at the edge of his group of humans. Amaimon could see the way he was trying to hide how tense he was, hearing how exaggerated his laugh was at something someone had said.

Rin was the first to turn around, nose flaring as he must have scented Amaimon out, and the earth king could see the obvious relief in his face.

"Okay, guys," Shura announced, stretching her arms over her head and rolling her shoulders, "who's ready to get our relaxing on?"

Amaimon ignored her and attached himself to Rin's side, feeling his own knot of tension ease at having the half-demon back beside him.

Rin gave him a shaky smile before a frown replaced it and Amaimon narrowed his eyes, wondering what the problem was.

"Shura!" Rin hissed, hand reaching up to tug Amaimon's collar down to expose his neck, "did you cut him?"

Shura shrugged, cocking a hand on her hip as she surveyed Rin's glare, "we reached an understanding, kid. No reason to get fussy about it."

Amaimon tilted his head back as Rin brought a thumb up to swipe away the rest of the blood on his neck that he'd missed, bringing it to his mouth to suck it away without thinking.

"Ew, Rin, did you just lick his blood?"

Amaimon shot a withering glare over to the human who'd spoken, the one with the ridiculous dyed-blonde mohawk he vaguely remembered as being polite at the festival.

"Er," Rin swallowed, flushing as he realized what he'd done. Not that Amaimon knew what the big deal was.

"Okay, kids," Shura clapped her hands, getting their attention, for which Amaimon was surprised to find himself grateful for, "now's not the time for figuring out weird demon quirks, now's the time for getting into the nice hot water. Come on, ladies with me, fellas, head that way."

"Oh thank god," Amaimon heard Rin mutter. Strange for a demon to say and yet another one of those human habits the half-demon hadn't broken yet.

The human twin led the group and presented their tickets without looking once at Amaimon, maintaining an icy air of politeness while still ignoring the earth king. Amaimon was perfectly fine with that, content to walk besides Rin and glare holes into the back of the pink-haired spy ahead of them, enjoying the way he shivered in fear.

"You are okay, right, Amaimon?"

Amaimon found Rin looking up at him with worried eyes and sighed, letting a small smile form on his face before he leaned down to leave a kiss on the younger's head, "we reached an understanding, as she said."

Rin grinned, worry melting away as they entered the changing rooms.

That was when the torture actually started.

Amaimon felt his heart plummet as the humans and Rin started stripping, setting their clothes in lockers without a thought. And there was Rin's tail, out on display, swaying with gentle movements as the half-demon grabbed a towel and -didn't even use it- leaving it draped over his shoulder instead.

Amaimon could have cried in frustration as Rin just smiled, clueless, at him from the entrance to the heated pools.

"It's okay, Amaimon. You can wear a towel if you want. I'll be out in the pool area when you're ready."

And then Rin left and Amaimon let out a hiss of breath, once again cursing Mephisto, as he grabbed two towels and forced himself to undress as quickly as possible.

The damn towels were barely big enough to cover anything and he had to wind his tail up in a tight, uncomfortable loop around his hips so he could cover it fully.

But it would have to do.

Exiting the changing room brought a new wave of frustration and Amaimon may have let out a whimper.

Because there Rin stood, body caressed by the clouds of steam rising from the bath waters beneath that just licked at the juts of his hipbones. The half-demon's tail danced over the surface of the pool he was in, long, ink-black fur at the end rippling like fire in the slow currents.

The unknowing tease turned in the water, body glistening as drops sluiced down his taut stomach and tapered waist and -grinning- over at Amaimon when he noticed his presence.

Amaimon forced himself to move towards the source of his pain.

"Isn't this great?"

Rin's smile had dimples. Amaimon wanted to -bite- them to show how he was feeling because he didn't know how he should answer that question.

Damn Mephisto.

"What are you supposed to do here?" He asked instead, chewing at his thumb nail as he noticed the still wary way the other humans were watching the exchange.

"Hmm? You just relax in the water," Rin smiled, cocking his head before he gestured behind him to another pool with a large slide beside it, "or you can go down the slide, that's awesome, too. Wanna go?"

Amaimon looked at the water rushing down the slide. Then he tried to imagine how he'd keep his tail hidden while on it and couldn't, shaking his head and sinking down in the water up to his nose to 'relax' as Rin suggested, hiding a pout under the surface.

"Okay, I'm gonna head over. I'll be back in a bit!"

And Rin was off, tail trailing behind him and sending tiny droplets of water to hit Amaimon's face and Amaimon was going to die before the two hours were over.

Yes. There Rin went, heading towards the slide and taking the last of Amaimon's sanity with him as he lightly splashed at the water with his tail. It arched behind him, water running down the length of it to leave the soft black fur shining in the light and Amaimon wanted to follow that water with his tongue.

He sunk lower into the pool until he'd covered his nose, letting out a burst of bubbles as he sighed in agony.

Amaimon stewed in his own misery for another minute before he realized he wasn't alone.

"Uh, hey, uh, Amaimon."

The human who'd spoken flinched as Amaimon lifted his head from the water and turned his attention at hearing his name, arching a brow as he wondered what the other could possibly want from him.

It was the mohawked human from before.

The human twin was on the far end of the pool, pretending to relax and still ignoring Amaimon and the pink-haired spy was at the far wall that separated them from where he assumed the human females were, judging by the sounds and smells he caught from that side.

The smaller bald one trailing behind the human who'd approached him carried a distracting level of anxiety that made Amaimon want to shove his nose back under the water as his predatory instincts tried to tell him to kill the easy prey before him.

"Stop being anxious, it's annoying," he ordered, hoping that would solve things.

The bald one only flinched and Amaimon sighed. At least Rin was enjoying himself, the half-demon's laughter as he went down the slides soothing Amaimon's rattled nerves so the urge to climb the walls was reduced to simmering instead of immediate.

"Hey, you're the one who broke his arm last time you saw him," the other human crossed his arms, eyes narrowed, "I think it makes sense to be a little cautious."

"I wanted to play with Rin," Amaimon explained. Although, his eyes drooped, given how everything had started with Rin not understanding what he meant by 'play' he realized he'd probably be explaining himself further to these humans.

"Yeah, we got that now," the human said, voice doing its best to imitate a demon's growl and failing.

"I didn't know Rin was so naïve to his demonic nature then," Amaimon tried, "I thought he understood what I meant by play. He knows now."

"So, you weren't trying to kill him that time in the forest?"

Amaimon turned his attention back to the bald one, who'd gathered the courage to speak to him, it seemed.

"No," he offered, then added what he thought might help, "or the rest of you. Including Shiemi."

"Hey! Why do you know her name and not ours?"

Amaimon glared at the stupid question from the mohawked one, "she is Rin's good friend. He cares for her, so I remember her name."

And she got the human twin under control, Amaimon added to himself. He'd enjoyed the way she'd shut the condescending brat down and defended Rin that night at the festival. And it didn't hurt that she sometimes brought him, or rather Ambrosia, candy during the classes they shared.

"Hey, we're his good friends too, okay? I'm Ryuji 'Bon' Suguro and this is Miwa Konekomaru, though you can call him Koneko for short, so remember it this time."

Amaimon sighed again, realizing he'd have to if he was going to spend time with Rin. And he was definitely going to spend time with Rin, whether his human friends liked it or not.

"Okay."

"Cool, we'll let you enjoy the bathhouse, then. Nice talkin' with you, Amaimon."

Amaimon sank back into the water, eyes searching to see where Rin had gone off to, only to find him by the pink-haired spy, the sight making him growl into the water, not liking Rin being anywhere near someone who'd trade his life to the highest bidder.

That was when he sensed the demonic presence the appeared in the bathhouse. And it was right over the heads of an unsuspecting Rin and the spy.

Amaimon was up and running before he knew it, startling the humans around him as a snarl left his throat.

The spy was already under the thrall of the demons, spouting something inane about wanting to see the breasts of the human females on the other side of the bath and making to climb the wall.

Rin shouted at the spy to get down, not realizing what was happening but turned, shocked, as he noticed Amaimon coming towards him.

And then Amaimon watched as Rin fell to the thrall of the demons and he was greeted by a hazy smile, the half-demon's inhibitions leaving him as he began to tell the truth.

"Amaimon! I'm so happy you're here."

Amaimon found his arms full of an incredibly distracting ball of squirming half-demon, fighting down the urge to respond in kind, especially when the other's tail wound itself around his leg, running up under his towel to find his own tail as if to coax it out of hiding from his waist.

"Hey, get your hands off him, we're in public!"

That damned twin, once again assuming things about Amaimon that had the demon snapping a glare his way.

"Mine," Rin moaned as he happily ignored his outraged brother to begin sucking bruises into Amaimon's neck, tracing his tongue between them and repeating the task every time the bruises healed as if determined to make them permanent.

"Are you blind?" Amaimon gasped, neck arching back and eyes shuttering as Rin bit into his shoulder, licking at the blood he'd drawn.

The effort it took not to react to the bite was monumental.

"He and that spy are under a demon's thrall. Look up, it's on the wall," he explained, voice a rough groan through suddenly elongated fangs caused by the way Rin had begun laving his tongue at his throat.

"He's right, those are truth demons!"

Amaimon was never so thankful for the bald one- Konekomaru, for not being as useless as the other humans.

"Mmm, Amaimon, play with me," Rin whined in his arms, nuzzling against his neck, leg shoving between his and bare hips grinding against him with only Amaimon's towel between them and -not- helping at all!

The twin looked like he was about to go apocalyptic, torn between attacking Amaimon or attacking the demons causing the whole mess and clearly wanting to do both.

"Teach' we gotta get those demons before I'm traumatized for life," Bon yelped, arm across his eyes as Rin got even more handsy. The half-demon had begun running his claws along the edges of Amaimon's towel, reaching down the back of it and grabbing at his tail.

Amaimon had to fight off the long moan that tried to escape his mouth, body trembling and knees weakening until it was him being held up and not the other way when Rin's claws traced the small of his back just over where his spine turned into his tail.

"Amaimon why won't you play with me?" Rin whined again, tears rising in his eyes and lips wobbling until an idea seemed to hit him.

"It's okay if you don't want to right now," the half-demon pouted, pressing a kiss to Amaimon's cheek before pulling back and smiling up at him, "I'll just go and play with- mmf!"

Amaimon ignored the cries of horror coming from the humans as he cut Rin off with his mouth in a rough kiss to keep him from mentioning Mephisto.

This had to end before Rin revealed things he would regret once he escaped the thrall. That brother of his and his friends had broken from chasing the demons around the pool area to shriek at them for kissing, showing, once again, how useless they were.

So, keeping Rin distracted with a tongue in his mouth, Amaimon lifted his hand and snapped watching the three truth demons explode in a mass of blood and bone over the heads of the humans beneath them and onto the floor, leaving a deafening silence in their wake.

He felt the moment Rin came back to himself, the half-demon freezing in his arms and squeaking into his mouth, muffled by the tongue he had twined with Amaimon's.

Rin pulled back, trailing a line of saliva between their lips and face erupting in a reddening blush that he proceeded to hide against Amaimon's chest so he didn't have to face what had just happened.

"Oh my god, kill me."

Amaimon just tucked the half-demons face further into his chest with a hand on his head, looking around to survey the damage.

The three blood covered humans were still standing, stunned, over by the wall and that just left the spy who was…

"Holy shit, Rin, get it!"

There.

Amaimon growled, the sound echoing in the silent chamber over the muffling sounds of the water as he pinned a glare on the spy who'd also recovered from the thrall but was somehow just as annoying as before.

"Eaugh! Oh my god, I'm covered in blood," Bon gagged, dancing on tiptoes and shaking his arms as he tried to get the gore off of him.

"I need to wash this off, oh man this is so nasty," Konekomaru groaned, shuddering as he looked down at his body.

"Couldn't you have killed them somewhere else?"

Amaimon scowled over at the ungrateful twin, "no."

The twin just narrowed his eyes, sneering, "of course not. I'm going to shower this mess off, please let go of Rin and make yourselves appropriate by the time I'm back."

That just made Amaimon tighten his arms around Rin. How dare that human tell him what to do.

He'd been about to snap away the mess but decided against it as he realized it would get the others out of the pool area so he could deal with Rin, who'd started shivering against him at the humiliation.

The three gore covered humans left, trailing bloody footprints behind them on the wet floor.

Then it was just the spy who hadn't gotten the hint.

"Get out," Amaimon hissed, baring his fangs when the spy just gave him a wide smile.

"Ha, sorry, sorry," he rubbed at his wet hair, sheepish, "I'll leave you two lovebirds alone then. Don't have too much fun!"

And then they were alone and Amaimon leapt over, clutching Rin to his chest, to where Rin had left his towel by the slide.

He pulled the towel over the half-demon's shaking shoulders, rubbing at his back to try to calm him.

"What just happened?"

Amaimon glanced down at the whimpered question, "truth demons. You and the spy were affected. I killed it before you revealed anything about Mephisto."

Rin groaned, "This was supposed to be a fun, relaxing day. Now I just wanna curl up and sleep for a month until I forget this happened."

That sounded promising to Amaimon.

"Can we go now?"

"Oh god yes, get me out of here," Rin groaned as he stuck his face in his hands, pressing his palms into his eyes.

Amaimon nodded and snapped his fingers, their clothes piling near them on the wet tiles, while another snap brought them back to Mephisto's bedroom, not wanting to waste time with doing things the long way.

The other demon king was missing and Amaimon frowned, untying the annoying towels from his waist to drop them to the floor, glad to be done with them as he stretched out his cramped tail. He'd hoped Mephisto would be there so he could yell at him about what a distracting tease Rin was and how he was never going to the bathhouse again, dammit.

Oh well, Amaimon turned and pounced on the unsuspecting half-demon, tossing him to land with a gasp on the bed before appearing to straddle his bare hips.

"Amaimon!"

He swallowed the protest in an open-mouthed kiss, already grinding down on the hips beneath his.

"Ah! Amai-"

"Never again," Amaimon hissed against the other's lips, tugging Rin's head back by his hair so he could run fangs down his throat the way the half-demon had done to him earlier.

"Wha?"

Amaimon glared into that tempting face, fighting the rising urge to utterly consume the other and biting at his collarbone instead.

"You had no idea what you were doing to me, did you?"

Rin squeaked at the feeling, or possibly the question, though he rose to meet Amaimon anyways prompting a satisfied rumble from the earth king.

"Doing what?"

Amaimon shoved a knee between Rin's thighs, hoping it would jog the half-demon's memories of what he'd just subjected him to at the bathhouse.

"Teasing," Amaimon glared, punctuating his words by gripping Rin's hips and pressing him to his leg with each detail he added, "with your tail. At the bathhouse."

He saw awareness enter Rin's eyes. Then the younger demon surprised him with a small, wicked quirk of his lips that had Amaimon completely reassessing his previous thoughts about Rin's naivety.

"Ah, I didn't know it would be that bad for you," the devious little half-demon revealed, watching Amaimon with lidded eyes and that impish smile still on his face, "I couldn't tell if I was doing it right or if you even noticed. I'm glad you did."

Amaimon groaned, dropping his head to Rin's chest as he realized Mephisto had been spot-on about the possibility that Rin knew exactly what he was doing when he teased.

"I wish Mephisto had been there to see it too."

Amaimon shuddered at the innocence of that statement, imagining what the effect Rin's teasing would have had on Mephisto and knowing the younger demon didn't know what he was asking for.

Well, Amaimon raised his eyes, chin resting on Rin's chest as he considered what the cost of such actions towards -him- would be.

"I'm going to fuck you now."

Rin had a moment for his statement to register before Amaimon had him flipped onto his stomach, hips tugged into the air and lashing tail caught in a clawed grip.

Amaimon was already preparing him, ignoring the surprised moan that escaped Rin's mouth to focus on his task.

He kept the writhing half-demon where he wanted him with one hand on his tail, not allowing him to move as he searched out the bundle of nerves inside him.

By the unrestrained cry that came out of Rin's mouth after a moment, he'd found it, rubbing there until the little demon was sobbing into the pillows, still unable to move as he wanted.

Amaimon drew out his torture, bringing Rin to the edge and then letting him hang there until he came back from it and Amaimon began the whole process over again.

Rin was leaking into the sheets beneath him, mind gone to the pleasure Amaimon was wringing out of him, when the earth king finally took pity on him and buried himself in the tight heat of those raised hips.

Rin let out a delicious mewl, arching back onto him, legs spreading further apart to give Amaimon as much access as he could.

Amaimon hissed as he settled and found his arm captured in the coils of Rin's tail, the length attaching itself to him instinctually in an effort to bring him closer.

He didn't hesitate any longer, pushing Rin down into the mattress as he fucked into him and delighting in the overwhelmed expression and mindless sounds each thrust elicited from that sweet face.

His claws left red lines in Rin's hips where he held him while he pulled rough strokes along the trapped tail, the cries each pass pulled from Rin a heady pulse along his senses that only made him slam all the harder into the half-demon.

Amaimon whipped his own tail around, bringing it to Rin's open mouth and pushing inside until the other was forced to start sucking, sending sparks across his already frayed nerves at the artless form.

His release hit him like a tidal wave and he curled forward to latch his teeth into Rin's shoulder, the taste of the half-demon's blood making him snarl into the torn skin as he reached down, helping Rin find his own completion until he came with a muffled shout around his tail.

Amaimon shuddered, panting and still feeling like he wasn't getting enough air, as he slid his tail out of Rin's mouth to allow the other to breathe again.

He almost decided to just collapse where he was but, seeing Rin's flushed cheeks and bruised lips made him pull out and slump to the side so he could lick at the other's mouth, swallowing the gasped breaths that tried to escape.

The dazed look in the half-demon's eyes slowly faded as he came down from the edge while Amaimon watched, satisfied he'd gotten his retribution for what the other had put him through that day.

"Will you tease like that again?" he prompted when it looked like Rin would be able to comprehend his words.

Rin surprised him with a sharp, fang-filled grin, his blue eyes slit-pupiled and demonic as they bore into his gaze, "hell yeah."

Amaimon narrowed his eyes, not sure if he was okay with knowing the other would be continuing his torment or not.

But…

"Good."

Amaimon twined his tail over their hips, settling into the covers to enjoy the rest of the day with Rin until Mephisto returned so he could see if he could get his compensation from the other demon, too.

With the proper amount of payback, he thought it might be worth it, in the end.

* * *

Ho-ho-holy shit, once again, you guys.

This chapter is 32 pages D:D:D: It was supposed to be a short chapter. I was wrong, horribly wrong.

I suppose I could have broken it into two chapters but I didn't want to bring the end chapter count past ten because I like even numbers and an eleven chapter fic would bother me to no end :D

Once again, forgive any unsightly errors, I'll be going through obsessively until I've corrected what I can and what I can't will just haunt me to the grave :D

Hope you guys liked this one!


	8. Take Your Earth King To Work Day

A/N Yukio attempts to be the voice of reason. Rin thinks it's probably best his twin only thinks he's dating the one demon and not two whole demon kings. Amaimon can't decide whether he'll kill Lightning or not and Mephisto gets his own shovel talk from Shura after her demon issue is settled, even if it's not the kind of shovel talk he should be given.

So I just calculated it out and it looks like, as of this chapter, ya girl has written about 147 pages of MephiAmaiRin smluff :D Like, by the time this is all finished I might have written a whole novel (the first Harry Potter is 76k words) bc why write my own stuff and make money when I can write fanfiction and suffer :DDD

Also, just fyi in case you were wondering, Rin, Amaimon, and Mephisto are all unreliable narrators throughout this fic, telling the story from their own pov's with all the biases that come with that. They can guess at what the other characters are thinking but that doesn't necessarily mean they guessed right.

And I hope no one thinks I'm being too mean to Yukio. I try to get him as close to canon as possible and, since Rin doesn't know what's going on in his head (Yukio has said he both 'loves and hates' Rin in canon), he seems harsher than his thoughts are. Also, he's still got that 'you need to protect your brother' issue Shiro dumped on him and the Eyes of Satan going on so there's that. Although, given who Rin's 'dating', he's got every right to worry lololol

Annnd lastly Idk if anyone's noticed (or cared lol) but I've also aged everyone up, starting the series as if the exwires and Yukio were in their freshmen year of college, not high school. Like, say, the aoe series begins the month Yukio is heading away to "university" (aka exorcist school), having graduated high school and Rin was trying to get a job out of school since he didn't want to go to college (and then Satan happened lol).

* * *

"Well, looks pretty good, huh, Kuro?"

Rin stood back, hands on his hips, to see how the kotatsu fit in the room, glancing down at his familiar to see how the cait sidhe liked it.

"It's missing a futon, isn't it?"

Kuro peaked under the low table as if searching for the blanket that was supposed to go over it.

"Yeah but it's not cold enough yet so for now we'll just use it as a table."

"Then I love it!"

Rin grinned, happy with his curb-side find that he'd hauled home on the way back from Mephisto's the other night.

"We'll have a party with everyone here, so we can break it in," Rin decided, getting excited at the thought of cooking for his friends and inviting them all to his dorm for a get-together.

The door clicked, and Rin tensed, wary, as Yukio came into the dorm.

His twin hesitated at the entryway, hand on the doorknob as if he couldn't decide whether he was coming in or leaving now that he'd seen Rin.

They stared, neither knowing how to break the silence after the day before.

Yukio's eyes flicked towards the new addition to their place and he seemed to steady himself before speaking.

"It looks good, Rin."

Rin felt his mouth stretch in a shaky smile, recognizing the peace offering for what it was.

"Yeah, I can't wait until it's cold enough to put the blanket over it."

He twitched as Yukio set his bag down on the hall-way countertop, still waiting for the shoe to drop as the other came more into the room.

"Listen, Rin," Yukio muttered, not looking him in the eyes, "I'm sorry about the last two days. Shiemi was right."

Rin felt his heart skip a beat. His twin never admitted when he was wrong, hating to be seen as incompetent or feel like the loser in any situation.

"It's okay," Rin managed to reply, although, really, he wasn't sure if it was. He just couldn't stand arguing with the other, feeling like he was attacking himself when he did.

He could see Yukio knew it, too, by the way his twin's brow furrowed and a frown overtook his face.

"I just. Don't think it's healthy, being in a relationship with Amaimon."

And there was the shoe.

Rin steeled himself, crossing his arms in a silent gesture for Yukio to continue. He'd let the other explain himself, at the very least knowing Yukio definitely needed to get some things off his chest once in a while, seeing as any other time was like pulling teeth to get him to talk.

Yukio drew in a breath, adjusting his glasses in a nervous habit before he spoke.

"He's a notoriously violent demon king, not that the rest of them are much better, and he's at least over a thousand years old with a known track record for being child-like, cruel, and impulsive."

Rin grimaced. Yukio was off to a good start, it seemed. And it wasn't like he wasn't very aware about each and every one of those points. His first introduction to the earth king had been a casual display of all his negative traits, and the second meeting hadn't been any better- actually, it had been worse.

"I'm just worried he's using you, or that he's manipulated you into a relationship. It's not like you have any kind of experience being in one," Yukio said, looking as worried as his words implied. Although, Rin narrowed his eyes at the sting of being reminded he'd never had a date before the demon king. Ouch, Yukio. Low blow.

"And, that's it. I guess. I already told you what I thought the Grigori might do if they found out about this," Yukio trailed off.

Rin sighed, shifting to lean on his other leg and bowing his head before he decided on what he would say.

But when he raised his head it was with a small smile that Yukio looked taken aback to see.

"Thanks for worrying about me, four-eyes," Rin teased, voice light to show he didn't mean it cruelly.

"I don't know how to explain it so well," he scratched at his cheek, turning his eyes to the ceiling in contemplation as he tried to put what he felt about Amaimon into words, "it's like, all my instincts push me towards him, which, I guess would be the demon thing I don't really know much about- but I feel good around him. Comfortable, happy."

When Yukio looked like he would interject, Rin raised a hand, asking for silence, "I know everything you said about him is right, too. I'm dumb, not blind, ya know."

"But," Rin smiled, a quirk of his lips, "would you believe I think it's actually me who's been manipulating him into a relationship and not the other way around?"

At Yukio's puzzled frown Rin hurried to explain, not needing his twin to remind him how naïve he could be or how low the likelihood of him manipulating anyone was, like he was some kind of kid.

"You know, I don't think they do the whole relationship thing in Gehenna? Most of the time I'm the one teaching Amaimon things, or he has to go to Mephisto because at least he's spent enough time here to recognize why we do things the way we do here."

"It's kinda like I'm teaching him human stuff and he's teaching me demon stuff and we're both learning to compromise," Rin thought the smile he was wearing might be a little goofy, thinking about his relationship with Amaimon, even if the poor demon king would be totally confused by what he'd just said to Yukio.

He shook his head, focusing back on the conversation because he really only had one thing to say to any of Yukio's arguments.

"I know you're worried, or just trying to watch out for me even though I am the older twin and it's my job to look out for you, in case you forgot," Rin huffed out a breath, smile turning wry at his twin's grouchy look at the reminder, "but, even if things don't work out, for now I'm happy and I'm staying with him. So, you're going to have to suck it up and deal. Okay?"

He could see the moment Yukio gave in, his twin reaching up to rub at his nose under his glasses, eyes closing as if to ward off a headache and shoulders slumping in defeat.

"Okay, Rin," Yukio sighed, flashing him a tired smile, "I don't like it, but, like I said, Shiemi is right, I should be happy for you. So. I'm happy for you."

Rin stepped over to pull his grumpy twin into a hug, another one of those things that didn't happen as often as it should, but he'd work on that.

"Thanks, Yukio," Rin grinned at the other, glad they'd settled things for the moment, "so are you gonna be here for dinner? I'm cooking right now so it should be done soon."

Rin frowned as Yukio shook his head, feeling his content mood abate.

"Sorry, I'm just going to be taking a shower and heading out again. I'll miss dinner tonight and it's probably going to be like this for a while so it's alright if you just do your own thing."

Rin could only watch as his twin left, what little progress had been made that night dwindling with the other's fading footsteps down the hall to the shower.

He shared a look with Kuro, his familiar just as worried, "you see it too, huh? He is acting weird."

His mood plummeted as the cait sidhe nodded in confirmation of his fears and he sighed as he went to finish dinner for just the two of them. Again.

* * *

Rin tried his best to push his worries for his twin out of his mind, choosing instead to focus on the joy of getting to see Amaimon during classes for the day.

He squeaked when the demon, as Ambrosia, surprised him in the hallway, appearing behind him to tug him back against a warm chest, nuzzling at his neck with a contented purr that Rin melted into.

"I still can't believe you decided to sign up for the academy," Rin said as they walked to their first class of the day, "I didn't think you could stand being around a bunch of humans this long. You know we've got another month and a half before the year is up and then three years before I graduate, right?"

Amaimon snorted, glowering at said humans around them and watching them scatter under the brunt of his ire, "I can't believe you're here, either. What's the point?"

Rin laughed as the irony of why he was even a student at the academy in the first place hit him, "well, I was just planning on getting a job out of high school before all this happened- Yukio's the one set on being a doctor, not me. But I kinda told Mephisto I would kill Satan and he said the only way to do that was to become an exorcist and the only way to become an exorcist is to take the regular classes, too. So, here I am."

Amaimon tsk'd, glowering at nothing now. Although Rin suspected it was because the object of his irritation, namely Mephisto, wasn't there for him to glare at.

"You're in one of Mephisto's schemes, then," the exasperated earth king replied, chewing at his clawed thumb as they sat down in class before letting out a long sigh, "as are we all."

"Yeah, I kinda figured that out by now," Rin cocked a wry smile at the thought. He'd assumed he'd been real smart, choosing a third option when the demon king of time had confronted him at Shiro's funeral. But he couldn't be sure Mephisto hadn't known, suspected, or at least planned that he would take that route. He wouldn't put it past the devious demon.

They were forced to stop talking when the nervous professor began teaching. Amaimon promptly went to sleep and Rin tried to pay attention to the lecture and not spend the whole time watching the way Amaimon's back rose and fell with every slow breath he took.

They made it through the rest of the day, though it dragged on since Rin was attempting to pay attention again, seeing as finals were arriving and he really didn't want to repeat a year.

"Your humans are outside. There," Amaimon mentioned, as they walked past a door Rin hadn't been through yet, though he'd passed it multiple times that year.

Rin shot the demon a grateful look, going to open the door and see what his friends were up to.

He found Bon and Izumo out on a long veranda he'd had no idea existed at the academy, which, cool! He wondered how many students actually came out there, especially since winter was fast upon them, and whether he could sneak some time with Amaimon in between classes without worry about prying eyes.

He eyed the roof and calculated the effort it would take to get there from the balcony, eyed Amaimon, remembering how far the demon could jump, and saved the thought for another time.

"Hey guys! How'd you even know this place was here?" Rin said, coming over to the two exwires. He saw them shoot looks at Amaimon when the demon came out, too, not liking being left alone in the hallway with a bunch of humans and no Rin.

Bon twitched and Izumo's cheeks were definitely pinker than could be excused by the winter air as Amaimon stopped behind Rin, looming like a crow over his shoulder and taking out a sucker to entertain himself with while he waited for Rin to finish his interaction.

Rin blinked back at the demon, wondering why they were staring, when he realized it maybe had something to do with the fact that Amaimon was still Ambrosia, something the other two exwires wouldn't know yet since they were both in upper level courses and didn't share any classes with him.

"He knew, I just saw him coming here," Izumo shook her head, recovering from Amaimon's presence fastest, to indicate Bon. Though Rin wasn't surprised, seeing as she hadn't been there during the Bathhouse Incident™ like Bon had been.

"Yeah, uh, I wanted to wait and see the assembly that's happening since maybe it'll explain why our exorcist exams have been moved forward," Bon explained, shifting his gaze to the stage below them where exorcists were already gathered.

"I'm gonna go get everyone else. They should see this too," Bon was quick to add, shooting another look at Amaimon before heading back inside.

"What's his problem?" Amaimon muttered around his sucker, leaning more against Rin and draping his arms to hang over his shoulders as he settled in for the long haul.

"Ah," Rin sighed, guessing at what Bon's issue was, "I'm pretty sure he's still traumatized after what he saw at the bathhouse."

Now Izumo was definitely blushing, glaring at the two of them and admitting, "I heard about what happened from Shima. In vivid detail. Vivid. Detail. You know we had to cut our spa day short because they shut the place down to clean the mess you guys left, right?"

Amaimon grunted, burying his nose into Rin's hair, "who cares? That exorcist should have dealt with things before I was forced to. I'm not a babysitter."

"Sorry, Izumo," Rin tried, hiding further against Amaimon in embarrassment, because that meant Shiemi and Shura knew about what had happened, too, and Shura was -not- polite enough not to tease him about it, "I couldn't really control myself until after Amaimon killed the demons."

"Yeah, I got that part from Shima, too," Izumo said, arms crossed as she tried to calm her blush.

Thankfully, they were interrupted by Bon and the others returning.

Shima let out a nervous laugh at the two sharp looks he was subjected to as Amaimon and Rin turned to glare at him.

The spy was saved by Shiemi coming up to them with a smile, "Rin, Ambrosia! Isn't it so nice out here? We're so high up!"

"I know, right?" Rin grinned, glad that at least one other person thought the place was super cool.

"Er."

Rin turned to see Bon looking nervous and wondered what the guy's problem was, this time.

"Shiemi, I thought we covered this, that chick's Amaimon, demon king of earth?" Shima said, flicking his own tense look towards Amaimon, though the demon just leveled a blank expression back.

"O-oh, I'm sorry, Amaimon," Shiemi flushed, bowing towards the demon king at her perceived blunder.

Rin just watched as Amaimon sighed, tossing his finished sucker to the side and pulling out another one, "I don't care. Use whatever."

"Hey, the assembly's starting, guys," Konekomaru called from the railing where he'd been watching the proceedings from.

Amaimon snorted as Mephisto made his entrance while Rin snickered at the theatrics the elder demon employed every chance he got.

"Do you think he can see us up here?" Rin asked, leaning over the edge and letting his pupils change to their demonic form so he could see Mephisto better, the demon poofing out a microphone decorated with one of his pink polka-dotted silk scarves he liked to wear tied in a bow around it.

"He knows we're here," Amaimon confirmed as he joined him, clawed hand coming up to grip the back of Rin's jacket as if the demon was worried he would fall off the ledge somehow.

Okay, he had a building record of falling while in the earth king's presence so maybe it was warranted. And, Rin decided, snuggling closer under Amaimon's arm, he wouldn't be complaining about the physical contact.

And then they heard why their exam dates had been moved up and Rin shared a grimace with Amaimon. The increase in demonic activity throughout the world, which Rin now knew to be caused by the artificial Gehenna gate, though that fact wasn't announced, meant the Vatican wanted as many new exorcists in the field as possible.

"The start of next year? That's only a month and a half away!" Izumo shrieked down at the stage and Rin could imagine why, with the intense way she and Bon had been studying, the pre-exam anxiety would been hitting them hard.

"Could this be related to the Illuminati?"

Rin hid a wince even as the other exwires shot suspicious glares over at Shima, their resident Illuminati spy, to his yelped denials about any involvement.

Not that Rin believed him either, but he also didn't care to press Shima all that much.

They returned to watching as Mephisto answered some of the worries of the exorcists until he revealed that they'd be getting a powerful addition to their ranks, sent from the Vatican to their branch of the True Cross Academy to help, as well as work as a cram class professor.

And Rin flinched violently in Amaimon's hold as Lighting came onto the stage, breath freezing in his lungs at the sight of the arc knight.

"Oh no, not that guy."

For once, Rin was agreeing with Shima. He felt his vision start to tunnel as Lightning dealt with a swarm of hobgoblins that had "mysteriously" attacked at just the right moment to allow the knight to impress everyone with a high-level summoning whose lengthy invocation he'd truncated to almost nothing.

"That guy is amazing," came Bon's awed whisper.

Rin started shivering.

A low growl reached his ears and he found himself drawn away from the railing by Amaimon, realizing his body was numb as he tried to walk and stumbled instead.

"Hey, where are you guys going?"

Rin blinked, eyes heavy for some reason, and tried to bring himself back to answer Bon's question.

"Away," came Amaimon's short answer for him when he couldn't get his mouth to work.

"We've got cram classes after this, though. You'll miss them if you leave. Lightning'll be teaching us, too, now. I can't believe it! This is great!" Bon continued, excited and unable to understand how anyone could knowingly skip class, especially one taught by Lightning.

Amaimon just sneered at Bon before hefting Rin into his arms bridal style and leaping to the eaves of the nearest roof, jumping until they reached an alcove hidden away as high as they could go.

The wind muffled any sounds from the stage below and Amaimon pulling him to his chest muffled even that when Rin started hyperventilating into the demon's embrace.

He's here he's here why is he here whyishehere!

Rin didn't know how long he panicked for, only coming back to himself because of the steady beat of Amaimon's heart in his ears and being surrounded by the earth king's scent until he could breathe normally.

Amaimon must have sensed that he'd calmed down enough to talk, question coming out in a dangerously soft voice over Rin's head, "what did that exorcist do to you?"

"I don't know!"

Rin hated how weak his voice came out, but he really didn't know why just seeing Lighting was affecting him like it was and it was making his body's reaction even more confusing and that was just making everything worse.

His face was hot, his head hurt, he kept hiccupping and his eyes were wet and he -hated- feeling like this.

"You weren't there," Rin bit out as Amaimon waited for him to elaborate, warm clawed hand pressed to his back as a solid comfort, "it was when Shima came back and Lighting was there to figure out if he'd be tortured for information or stay with us as a spy."

He shivered but made himself tell Amaimon what had happened, trying not to let his claws put holes in the demon's sweater where he had them gripped.

"All he did was say he'd always wanted to meet me and rubbed his face really hard against mine. But he wouldn't let go and his hand was in my hair and his body was on me and he smelled awful and-"

Rin was hyperventilating again, heart pounding as he relived the simple encounter with the arc knight in Mephisto's office.

The hiss that came out of Amaimon's mouth was serpentine as the demon snapped his fingers to summon his coat and wrap Rin in it, cocooning him in the dark of the maroon fabric.

"I'll gut that human like the repulsive creature he is."

Rin forced himself to grab Amaimon's arm, bringing his head up out of the coat to stop him from leaving to do just that.

"You can't," he gasped out, voice thick as he tried to get his tongue to function right, "Mephisto wanted to kill him, too, but he said he needs him for some plan, so he didn't."

"I don't give a damn what his plans are," Amaimon sneered, body tense under Rin's as he visibly held himself back from enacting his immediate vengeance, "that human knew exactly what he was doing. He was using our body language to mimic a demonic claim."

Rin's breath stuttered in his lungs.

"He must have guessed at Mephisto's claim on you."

Rin felt his eyes widen in horror, "how?"

Wait.

Rin flashed back to the day in the office, when he'd been so distracted by remembering the time Mephisto had taken him on the demon's desk, and then the rest of Shima's interrogation and what happened after that he'd forgotten an important detail.

"He saw my claw marks I left in Mephisto's desk. I don't know how he guessed from that, but that's gotta be it," Rin grit out, dropping his head at the shame of letting something so private out to someone like the arc knight.

The growl that came out of Amaimon echoed in the alcove, frightening a flock of resting birds into panicked flight and Rin flinched again, clinging tighter to the demon.

"Please don't do anything, Amaimon," Rin begged, trying for calm before his erratic emotions led the earth king into beginning a massacre and then Mephisto would probably kill Amaimon or punish him again and Rin would have been the cause.

"Just. Don't worry about it," he said, voice leaving him in an exhausted exhale as his body went limp in Amaimon's arms, coming down from the adrenaline rush he'd just been through, "I can deal with him and it's not like he can do anything in class. Now that I know what he was doing I'm -not- letting him touch me again, even if I have to use my flames. I just won't hang around him alone anywhere."

He couldn't tell if his words were having any effect on the earth king, but he hadn't left him to go murder Lightning yet, so Rin hoped the demon had begun to calm, despite the ferocious snarl still on his face.

"I'm not leaving you in a room with him," Amaimon hissed down at him from a fang filled mouth, the demon's teeth lengthened in his rage.

Rin could only sigh, feeling weighted down and heavy as he curled up further, wishing he could hide from what he had to do and knowing he couldn't, "you can't come with, though, right? Won't you just get attacked by the exorcists if you go into cram class with me?"

"I can do whatever I want," came the immediate declaration through clenched teeth, Amaimon not quite answering whether he could be around exorcists without them getting out the pitchforks and torches.

"If you can, I," Rin hesitated, realizing what he was asking would bring a whole host of complications whose consequences he wasn't sure would end in his, Amaimon's, or even Mephisto's favor.

But, "I want you there, with me. Please."

At his quiet request the growls that had been rumbling through Amaimon's chest slowed to a stop, the earth king losing the dangerous tension coiled in his body and letting his demonic features recede with a shuddering roll of his neck.

"Okay," Amaimon said after a while, leaning to press his cheek to Rin's hair and bringing a clawed hand up to pull him into an undemanding hug.

Rin brought his arms around the demon, dropping his head to his neck and breathing, letting his body relax in preparation for what was to come.

He'd already missed the first of his cram classes by the time they made it off the roof. Amaimon had snapped his fingers, make-up gone and his hair out of the messy bun, back in that strange point at the top of his head. The school uniform the demon had been wearing was replaced with his usual get-up, donned like a battle-armor,

Rin's phone had a flurry of texts from his friends wondering where he was and letting him know that Lightning's lecture had started.

And that it was packed, students from other classes and years, and even exorcists, all attending the famous arc knight's first lesson. Rin almost ran the other way. But, knowing Amaimon was going to be with him let him open the door, taking a shuddering breath, and entering to the attention of a room full of exorcists, exwires, his friends-

And Lightning.

The man had been drawing what looked like PlayStation controller symbols on the chalk board but, at their entrance, stopped. He had a wide, cheerful smile on his face, but his eyes were that same penetrating gaze that had made Rin feel like he was being picked apart under a microscope in a lab somewhere deep, where no one could hear him scream.

The class was still silent.

Rin realized he'd frozen when he'd locked eyes with the exorcist until Amaimon stalked past him, each step precise and heavy, his boots sending the ground rumbling beneath him as if something much larger was walking towards the front of the room where Lighting was.

Lightning didn't seem to have any sense of self-preservation.

"Amaimon? Demon king of earth and seventh in Gehenna? In my classroom? Holy shit! I didn't know my first lecture was going to be this exciting or I would have prepared better."

Amaimon was upon him.

"I'm a huge fan, I-!"

He was cut off as Amaimon slammed his fist down on the desk between them, splitting it down the middle with a deafening crack that sent splinters into the air and fractures spreading through the floor beneath it.

Letting his fist stay where the surface of the desk had been, Amaimon fastened his eyes onto Lightning's, each word of his next sentence coming out like a row of tombstones dropping to the ground.

"If you touch him again, I will -bury- you."

Rin held his breath, waiting for the answering storm from the arc knight, not knowing how the exorcist would respond to the threat from the demon king.

"Ahaha who knew Rin Okumura, our very own illegitimate son of Satan, had acquired such powerful allies," Lightning laughed, carefree in the face of the very real threat Amaimon presented.

"Alive," Amaimon hissed out, sending a venomous glare at Lightning before heading back towards Rin and grabbing his hand to pull him over to where his friends sat in stunned silence.

Rin found himself pushed into his seat, the poor random exwire from another class that had been using it shoved aside to make room for him and Amaimon sitting on the desktop to block his view of Lighting.

"Continue you lesson, exorcist," Amaimon commanded, leaning back on his hand and pulling out a sucker, dropping the wrapper to the floor like a challenge.

The room got a lot emptier as, all of a sudden, a stampede for the door happened until it was just them and the rest of the Rin's friends still there.

"Ah, where did everyone go?" Lightning scratched at his stubble, leaving a smear of chalk dust on his face as he shrugged and smiled at the ones who'd remained.

"Well, does anyone want to tell me what these symbols are on the board? How about you, Rin?"

"What?" Bon yelped out, snapping out of the shock he'd just gotten and turning wide eyes on Rin from where they'd been locked on the desk Amaimon had destroyed, "what the hell was that, Rin?"

Rin flinched, reaching out for the back of Amaimon's coat to steady himself.

"Um, Rin," Shiemi said, voice soft with her worry, "are you okay?"

"Hey! Amaimon, what gives? I can't see the board!"

"What did he mean by 'touch him again'?"

"Yeah, man, wasn't the only time that happened during my whole interrogation thing?"

Each question from his friends made Rin bow further into his seat until his head pressed into Amaimon's back next to his clenched hand, staring into the weave of the fabric with unseeing eyes. He could hear the growls starting up from the demon king and knew he had to get them off the current topic before the Amaimon got really mad.

"Can we just forget this, guys," he managed to grit out, heart beginning to race again, "please. Just drop it."

Something in his voice must have registered how very much he didn't need their attention, however well-meaning it was, right then, because they quieted. The room fell into awkward silence until Rin could pull his head back from Amaimon with a shaky exhale.

"They look like PlayStation controls," Rin began, answering Lightning's question.

"Close!" He wasn't close at all, the symbols being short-hand summoning circles, however that worked. Rin could imagine the cheery smile on the exorcist's face and he hoped the glare he knew Amaimon would be giving him was vicious enough.

The lesson continued, though it only proved to showcase how far beyond them Lightning was, the exorcist being a truly awful teacher who couldn't explain how he got the results he did, just that 'the rest is omitted!' Like that answered anything.

"And I guess that's it for today," Lightning dusted the chalk off of his hands, beaming at them, "I have something I need help with if any strong guys feel up to the task."

Rin was already up and out of his seat, hearing Amaimon drop to his feet off the desk to follow behind him as he left the room.

He walked a few feet down the hall until he had to lean back against a wall, letting the brick cool his heated body through his uniform.

"Can we go to Mephisto's?"

Amaimon nodded in silence, raising his hand to snap and depositing them in Mephisto's bedroom.

Rin smiled at the earth king before shedding his clothes and crawling into the bed, curling into Amaimon's chest when the demon followed suit.

He twined his tail around the Amaimon's, trying to get as much contact as possible with the other and sighing as a black clawed hand ran through his hair.

He drifted off to sleep.

* * *

"I can't believe you let that filthy exorcist live to come back to your school! And how could you not tell me what the creature did to Rin?"

"Simply put, Amaimon, because I knew this is how you'd react. As for letting him come back to this school, I'm afraid that was out of my hands. He was sent by the Vatican, although I suspect he requested Angel, the current paladin, to send him here for his own purposes."

Rin awoke to the two demon kings arguing in the room, though when he sat up they stopped, staring with twin, slit-pupiled eyes and waiting for him to make a move.

"Please don't be mad at Amaimon," Rin croaked out, mouth dry after who knows how long he'd been sleeping for, "it was my fault. I asked him to go to class with me."

Mephisto and Amaimon shot each other glares before both moved to climb into the bed on either side of Rin, Mephisto snapping his fingers to summon a glass of water and Amaimon dropping his head on Rin's shoulder, curling an arm around his waist.

Rin sent a grateful smile up at Mephisto for the water, letting him vanish the glass when he'd finished.

"So, am I in trouble?" Rin asked, hesitant, and picking at the threads of the duvet over his lap, "Yukio said the Grigori wouldn't be happy if they found out I was 'fraternizing' with a demon king and that they might lift the suspension on the execution order."

"Ah, you're in luck, Rin," Mephisto traced his claws along the veins of Rin's arm and over his hand, "because of the looming threat of the Gehenna Gate opening, the machinations of the illuminati, and the encroaching demon hoard, the Grigori have realized how short-staffed they are. They can't afford to execute you now, not when they need all the fire-power they can get."

"Oh."

Rin tilted his head to lean it against Amaimon's, pressing his face to the demon's hair. The relief he expected to feel at no longer having an execution order over his head was shadowed by the other issues Mephisto had brought up and he didn't know how to feel about it.

"I would have killed them if they tried," Amaimon muttered into his neck, arm tightening around Rin's waist.

Rin felt a smile twitch at his lips, "thanks, Amaimon."

"Will you be alright around Mr. Lewin during your classes with him, then?" Mephisto asked, though Amaimon growled at the question.

"Yeah," Rin placed a calming hand over the earth king's where it rested on his stomach, "I told Amaimon, if he tries anything again I'll use my flames on him. I'm not afraid."

"Good," Mephisto nodded, squeezing his hand, "however, never drop your guard around him. He lacks many of the moral hang-ups most humans have and there are no limits to what he'll go through to get what he wants. I'm honestly surprised he wasn't born a demon."

Amaimon sneered, "don't lump us in with that worm."

"Yes, well," Mephisto sighed at that, "never mind that there's also his strange obsession with us, demons, that is, and I'd rather he not be mucking around in my school."

Rin let the two keep talking over him, the back-and-forth of their debating lulling him into sleep. His last impressions were of being tucked further against a warm chest, another draping itself along his back until he was surrounded, protected, on both sides.

* * *

"Hey, Rin."

Rin looked over from his seat at the table he, Bon, Shima, and Konekomaru were studying at, waiting to see what the other wanted.

"I'm not sure what's up with you and Lightning," at Rin's twitch when he mentioned Lightning, Bon's eyes narrowed, exhaling through his nose before continuing, "but I just want you to know I've decided to try to become his apprentice."

"No way! Really?" Rin blinked up in shock at Bon, not being able to see him as anyone's apprentice. He could see Koneko and Shima were just as surprised, putting their books down to look at their genius friend.

"Did you ask him already?" Koneko asked after he and Shima got over their exaggerated freak-out over Bon finding a mentor.

"Yeah," Bon sighed, "he said 'no' but I'm not going to stop until he accepts me, even if I have to do his menial tasks he keeps finding for me. As long as I can learn from him."

"So," Bon breathed, facing Rin, "I just wanted you to know."

Rin gave his friend a shaky smile, "hey, it's okay, Bon. Don't let me stop you. If you want to learn from him, then that's what you'll do."

They finished their study break and Rin headed home. Finding that, once again, Yukio wasn't there. He had a subdued dinner with Kuro, despite the familiar's attempts to cheer him up.

The next few days proved hectic. Exorcists were in higher demand than ever and even exwires were being called on to handle easier missions so the tougher ones could be dealt with before they got too dangerous for the unaware public.

He even had a joint mission with Shiemi, the two of them clearing a decrepit house in the middle of two skyscrapers of a rot demon that had settled in and started causing trouble. They'd been able to have a long talk about their worries for Yukio, though, in the end, neither could think of a way to reach him.

And then, while they headed back to the academy, Rin got a call from Mephisto.

"Rin, if you could come to my office. I've got something pressing that you'll need to hear."

"Sure," Rin blinked, sharing a confused look with Shiemi before they parted ways.

When he opened the door to Mephisto's office he froze, seeing Yukio before him, his twin looking a little rough, like he'd just come back from a mission.

And Amaimon was there, lounging against the wall behind Mephisto's desk, chewing a sucker and eyeing Yukio down in a menacing way.

"Rin, come here, please."

Mephisto leveled the both of them with a knowing smile that Rin wasn't sure he liked as he came to stand before the desk, hands shoved in his pockets.

"Miss Kirigakure has been missing for two days. Do either of you know where she is?"

"No," Yukio replied, hands behind his back in a parade rest and a cool expression on his face as he resolutely ignored Amaimon.

Rin watched as Amaimon's eyes slid to meet his and he wondered at what the demon was thinking.

"Rin?"

"No, I don't know where Shura is," Rin answered, forcing himself to look away from Amaimon and back at Mephisto's suddenly impish smile.

"Well I do."

Rin sighed, quirking an exasperated grin at the demon king, "seriously? Then what do you need us for?"

"I need you two to go to Aomori prefecture and bring her home- she's missed two days of work, you know."

"Why Aomori?"

Rin was curious about that too, so he waited to see how Yukio's question would be answered.

"Miss Kirigakure is from Aomori. We tracked her phone gps to her last location at the Hachinohe train station. It's a little concerning that she's vanished like this, so I'd like you two to go retrieve her."

Rin nodded, accepting the information until Yukio's next words stopped him flat.

"Does this mission require both of us? I'll be able to handle it on my own and it'll be much quicker without Rin."

What? Rin felt his teeth gritting, trying to contain the hurt he felt. Because he hadn't seen Yukio in what felt like weeks outside of class and here was his twin, already trying to get rid of him like he was some excess baggage that would 'weigh him down.'

He could see Amaimon shifting, eyes intent on how the situation was playing out.

"Mr. Okumura," Rin shot a startled look at Mephisto, hearing the danger in his voice and seeing the lack of the demon's usual mirth in his face.

"Don't argue. This is an order."

"But-"

And then Rin felt his stomach drop as Mephisto spoke again.

"One of my sources tells me you've been engaging in some dangerous training. Please don't endanger your life," Mephisto smiled, a hint of fangs in his mouth as he pointed at Yukio while Rin kept trying to understand what the demon meant by dangerous training. The way Yukio had an instant denial on his tongue just made Rin all the more suspicious.

"Overwork is poison to the body, why don't you use this mission to blow off some steam, hmm?"

By the way Yukio grit his teeth Rin could tell his twin had found himself backed into a corner and wasn't happy. But, ever polite, he gave a curt nod, "understood, sir Pheles."

Rin had one more question for the demon king, "is Amaimon coming too?"

Mephisto eyed Amaimon out of the corner of his eyes, though he remained facing Rin.

"No. Not this time, Rin."

He could see from the earth king's expression that he wasn't happy about the situation either, crunching through his sucker and pulling out another to replace it.

Rin flinched as he heard the door shut behind him, Yukio having left without any sort of acknowledgment at all.

But in this one case, it was okay. He needed to talk to the demon kings without his twin around, anyway.

"Is this another one of those things you're going to have to apologize for in advance?" he said after leveling a long look at Mephisto.

"It is," Mephisto replied, steepling his hands in front of his face as he watched for Rin's reaction.

Rin just let out a sigh, rubbing at his hair, "okay."

Still, he sent a dry grin at the demon kings, "maybe I can drag whatever it is that's eating at Yukio out of him, since he can't escape me now."

Amaimon snorted, rolling his eyes at the wishful thinking, "good luck with that."

Rin smiled at the response, the irony of the ever reticent Amaimon looking down on Yukio for not being forward with his emotions was not lost on him.

He turned towards the door to leave, then hesitated, looking back at the two demons from under his bangs, "I'm not mad at you guys, yet. Though I think I will be if you don't say 'goodbye'."

Amaimon reacted first and he had his arms full of earth king, raising his face to accept the kiss dropped on his mouth with a pleased smile.

Mephisto was next, drawing him into an unhurried kiss that he savored, knowing he'd more than likely be wanting to strangle the demon next time he saw him.

It had to end, though. Rin pulled back, heading out to go deal with his twin and prepare for a long mission up to the snowy mountains of Aomori.

* * *

Amaimon shoved his hands in his pockets, watching the door Rin had exited through before turning his blank gaze to Mephisto.

"He's too forgiving."

Mephisto sighed, leaning back on his desk, tracing a clawed finger over his lips as if still feeling Rin's kiss, "and I'll be taking advantage of that forgiving nature of his for a while yet."

"Unfortunately, the worst is still on the horizon, and we're fast approaching it."

* * *

The mission goes… about exactly as Rin expected it to.

Well, he'd never expected Shura to have such a strange and tragic past, although considering she'd been rescued by Shiro as a kid on one of his missions, maybe he should have.

But, Amaimon had been right. Yukio had played tone deaf the whole time, distracting and parrying every attempt he made to find out what Mephisto had meant by 'dangerous training.'

And the way his twin had rescued Shura from the dragon demon she'd been contracted to by her ancestor had been…worrying. He'd seemed a little too keen on getting ahold of the demon's immortality and strength for Rin's tastes, even if he played it off as a strategy afterwards.

Everything about the mission had been worrying, actually. Especially Shima's appearance in the end that could only mean the Illuminati was trying to get their claws into the immortal dragon for his regenerative properties.

Besides Shura, who, after Rin had shaken sense into her about valuing her life a little more had gone back to her usual blunt self, Yukio and Shima had walked around like facades of themselves. Every word out of their mouths shallow mimicries that Rin was almost depressed to think they thought fooled anyone with.

Not that he really cared whether Shima was false, long having decided to never trust the spy again.

Still, he'd tried his best to at least let Yukio know he knew his twin was hiding things from him and that he was there should he decide to talk.

The hug he'd received from Shura at the end of the mission and her thanks for giving her a new reason to live would be enough for him to call things a success, this time.

Now, with Yukio recovering from the broken bones he'd received in their fight, Rin found himself back at the academy and making his way up to Mephisto's office.

He blinked in surprise to see a now short-haired Shura walking out of the office, sans sword, which she could no longer use to the same effect without the demon that had been inhabiting it.

"Oh, hey, kid," she came up to him, grinning and ruffling his hair like he was an actual kid.

"Shura! Ow, cut it out!" Rin grumbled, trying to dislodge her hand.

"Ahh, that makes me feel better," she said, ignoring his protests.

"What does?" Rin gave up, letting her hook an arm around his shoulders and lean on him.

"Just enjoying my new lease on life. Freedom feels great!"

"What does that have to do with being in Mephisto's office?" Rin almost didn't want to know, especially seeing the way Shura's grin turned demonic.

"Oh, you know," the exorcist dragged out, voice sing-song, "it's just great that I can now say I've reached an understanding with two demon kings about you."

Rin froze, heart stopping as his mind went back to the only other demon she'd reached an understanding with. That demon being Amaimon and the understanding had been her threatening him over his relationship with Rin.

"Understanding?" Rin squeaked out, hoping he'd heard wrong.

"Yup," Shura grinned, adding and exaggerated pop to the end of her affirmation.

"Like you did with Amaimon?" Rin needled, feeling slightly desperate as Shura's grin only got more wicked.

"You know," she said instead of answering, "I never did get to tease you about what went down at the bathhouse. I think you've been avoiding me, Rin."

Rin groaned, dropping his head. He'd thought he'd escaped that punishment. But he should have known Shura had a long memory and would never pass by the opportunity.

Shura just let out a loud wolf-whistle, slapping his shoulder and cackling, "oh man, kid. I can't believe it. Here I was, thinking 'wow, Shura, it sure is nice to get to enjoy a peaceful day at the spa. But gee, it's kinda noisy on the guy's side of the building. Sure hope Amaimon isn't causing any trouble.' And what do I find, but the troublemaker is you! Taking advantage of him!"

"It's not like I meant to!" Rin shrieked, stepping back to point his finger at her.

"That little perv', Shima, told us all the steamy details," she batted her eyes at him, clutching her hands to her cheek, "you should have seen poor Shiemi and Izumo's faces. They were so red I thought they were about to explode right there when they heard about the way you were all up on the earth king."

Rin thought he was about to explode, too.

"OOOH Amaimon, play with me!"

"I'm gonna go see Mephisto now, leave me alone, you hag!" Rin yelped, dodging past her and making for the office to flee the mortifying situation.

He yanked open the door, bolted inside and closed it, shutting off the sounds of her retreating cackles and slumping against the door, having narrowly escaped her clutches.

"I see you've had the pleasure of witnessing the new and improved Miss Kirigakure, too, Rin."

Rin exhaled in a whoosh, opening his eyes to send a flustered smile at Mephisto from where the demon was sat at his desk.

"I think I'm gonna have to put slugs in her bed if she keeps bringing up the bathhouse thing," he said, mouth twitching at his irritation.

Mephisto gave him a wry smile, leaning his head on his fist and tapping a clawed hand against his desk, "that may only encourage her. She's not one to fall from a challenge."

Rin noticed the new hole in the chair the demon was sitting in, then, shaped suspiciously like a blade. And then he saw Shura's now empty sword leaning on the wall by the window and Shura's words about reaching an understanding came back.

"Please tell me she didn't figure out about us," Rin found himself whimpering as he eyed the sword, "she said she reached an understanding with you about me like she did with Amaimon."

Mephisto's answering smirk was absolutely not helping and he glared until the demon laughed.

"No, I think her reaction would have been quite a bit more extreme than the talk we just had," Mephisto answered, rubbing a gloved finger over his cheek where the sword must have cut him on the way into the chair behind his head, "I'll live for another while longer, it seems."

Rin came forward, standing before the desk with a hand on his hip as he considered what he'd say to the demon.

"You and Amaimon were right. Yukio didn't budge," he began, watching for Mephisto's reaction.

The demon inhaled through his nose, shifting back in his chair as he waited for Rin to continue.

"I'm guessing you know exactly what kind of training he's doing and it's probably a lot worse than either of you guys are letting on, for you to have a spy on him."

Rin shook his head at Mephisto's narrowed eyes, cutting him off before he could speak, "I don't want to know. At least. Not from you."

"Oh?" Mephisto cocked his head and Rin frowned, looking away.

"Yukio's gotta come clean on his own or I might as well get my own spy to keep an eye on him," Rin gave a self-deprecating laugh at the situation, unable to believe his relationship with his own twin brother had fallen so far.

"Yes, that would cut into you rather limited funds," Mephisto teased, examining his claws.

"Maybe if you weren't such a cheapskate with our allowance," Rin hissed, hands twitching with a renewed longing to strangle the demon. And not in the fun way.

Said demon only raised his hands in surrender and Rin huffed out a breath.

"So then, I'm wondering," Mephisto said, face neutral, "what's your verdict. Have I done something unforgivable yet or?"

"Oh," Rin blinked, "that's what you're worried about?"

Rin grinned at the puzzled frown on the demon's face, "nah, I think Shura handled that for me. Honestly, I expected a lot worse from you with how serious you guys were. I already knew Shura had some weird stuff going on with her. And Yukio is an ongoing issue, so nothing new there."

"You should be careful what you wish for," Mephisto dropped his head into his hands, groan leaving him at Rin's carefree answer, "as I told Amaimon, the worst is yet to come. You may find yourself wishing Shura had aimed just a little bit more to the right."

Rin leaned over on the desk, mirroring the other's position by propping his chin in his palms in front of Mephisto's bowed head and smiling at the poor demon.

"You were worried I'd be mad! Was Amaimon, too? This whole time?"

Mephisto brought his head up, eyes narrowed in his irritation at reading Rin wrong. Or being wrong in general, Rin suspected.

Rin leant forward to kiss the demon's nose, smiling at the cross-eyed look he got, "that's sweet. No one would ever believe me if I told them."

"I'll show you 'sweet'," Mephisto growled, making to rise and grab Rin over the desk only for Rin to bounce back out of reach, the demon's hand just brushing the ends of his hair.

"Nuh-uh," Rin sang, "if you really want to be punished so much, I'll leave. I've got classes to get to, you know."

"Forget your classes," came the petulant growl from the demon at having his prey slip his grasp.

Rin snickered from where he was at the door, one hand on the knob as he looked back at the disgruntled expression he was receiving, "you're the one who led me on the path to higher education. I could have been working a part-time job somewhere with loads of free time. Reap the consequences of what you've sown, Mephisto."

One more dig should do it, Rin decided, twisting the door and opening it a small crack.

"I'll just go spend the day with Amaimon, now. Maybe we'll -play- again before cram classes start. That was loads of fun last time."

The door was slammed shut and Rin found his hand covered by Mephisto's gloved one, body pressed hard to the door at his back and the demon's fang-filled grin looming over him.

Rin smiled up at Mephisto, pleased at having gotten his way.

"Forget. Your. Classes."

"Amaimon's not gonna be happy," Rin said, trying to contain a laugh, "I'm gonna tell him you were the reason he didn't get to play with me when I see him next."

He found a knee between his and a hand at his hair, letting out a gasp as fangs found his throat and Mephisto growled against him, making him go limp in the demon's arms with a responding purr.

"Did you come to my office with this specific purpose in mind," Mephisto growled the question against his throat as Rin ground down on his leg and pressed into the teeth scraping his neck.

"It might have been one of the reasons, yeah," Rin admitted, panting as he brought his arms up over the demon's shoulders to his head, flexing his claws in the purple hair there as Mephisto groaned at his response.

"Amaimon was right, damn him," Mephisto glared into his eyes, expression peevish, "you are an incorrigible tease."

Rin gave a breathless laugh as he was hauled into the air and his legs wrapped around Mephisto's hips, continuing to grind onto the demon below him once he'd settled.

"You know," Rin let out another gasp as he was brought away from the door only for his shoulders to be slammed against the wall next to it, "that night on your desk, I was kinda hoping we'd do this first before I realized what you were planning instead."

Mephisto moaned, both at Rin's continued movements and what he'd just revealed as he panted out, "even then, hmm? That I ever considered you innocent is a mystery."

The demon snapped his fingers before Rin could respond and he shivered, finding himself naked against the still clothed king. A moment later and he was being held up with one arm as Mephisto reached down to free himself from his pants, nudging his length at Rin's entrance.

He let out a whine as Mephisto brought his tail up, too, toying along his spine and coiling with his own tail to shoot delicious sparks across his senses and he arched his neck to press his head to the wall when he couldn't handle it anymore.

Rin shuddered against the feeling, concentration splintering between Mephisto's teeth at his neck, the way his gloved hands pressed into his hips to grind their lengths together, and the pleasure being wrung out of his tail.

He was leaking on his stomach, vision tunneling, and body heating so much he thought his own flames were consuming him by the time the demon took pity and began preparing him, though that only added to the fire coursing through his veins.

By the time Mephisto had determined him to be ready, he was a shaking, needy mess, pushing back against the wall and down onto the demon's gloved fingers like they were the only things holding him up.

And -finally- Mephisto pushed into him with a long groan at the side of his neck until he bottomed out.

Rin hissed at the feeling, bringing his arms up to the demon's shoulders as he tried to adjust. A second later Mephisto moved, every thrust shoving Rin into the wall behind him and Rin couldn't stop the cries from leaving his mouth.

Heat twisted in his stomach, winding tighter as Rin tried to keep up with the pace being set. He found his hips held still in one hand while Mephisto brought his other one up to his shoulder, keeping him in place and unable to do anything except take.

But his tail was still free.

Rin dragged his tail along Mephisto's where they were wound together, sending sparks shooting through his senses and knowing it was the same for the demon by the uncontrolled sounds he'd finally started letting out.

He managed to get one of his clawed hands into the mussed purple hair and the other at his collar and tugged, slipping out of Mephisto's hold to latch his fangs into the demon's shoulder until he tasted blood and Mephisto stilled, coming into him with a growl that reverberated through Rin's body.

And then Mephisto had a gloved hand around his length, the feel of the soft leather dragging over him in rough strokes unlike anything he'd ever felt before and he came with a rough cry, clenching around Mephisto, his body freezing in his release.

He was a boneless mess in Mephisto's arms, drawing his fangs out of the demon's shoulder and panting into it when he couldn't be bothered to lift his head.

Still, Rin let out a happy purr, smiling as he nosed into Mephisto's neck and wrapped his arms in a tighter hold around the demon.

"Incorrigible," Mephisto repeated, pulling out and letting Rin get his wobbling legs under him until he got used to standing again.

"Mm, yep," Rin agreed, reaching up a finger to catch a drop of blood he'd missed to bring it to his mouth.

He quirked a teasing smile at Mephisto, enjoying the way the demon watched him trace his tongue to his finger, "I'm gonna go to class and see if I can convince Amaimon to leave early."

Mephisto's pupils slivered at his words, looking more than a little demonic as the realization of what Rin was about to do to Amaimon hit him.

"Clean me up?" Rin raised his arms, indicating his still naked body as Mephisto groaned again, dropping his face onto a hand and raising the other one to snap Rin back into clothes.

"That poor demon doesn't know what's coming," Mephisto sighed, already imagining the sheer torture Rin was going to be inflicting on an unsuspecting Amaimon.

"Even better," Rin grinned, reaching up to pull the Mephisto in for one more long kiss before darting out the door as quickly as he'd entered in the first place.

He had an earth king to seduce.

* * *

Ahhhh! How did I write so much again? That scene with Rin and Mephisto was just supposed to be the Shura shovel talk scene! It added like over 6 pages to this monster D: That whole thing with Lightning wasn't supposed to happen at all DDD: I knew I was in it for the long haul when I reached 15 pages and I'd just gotten to the Rin Amaimon Mephisto h/c scene. And it's now 26 pages and I only covered half of what I was planning on covering so it's gonna have to go into the beginning of next chapter and this whole thing may end up being over that 10 chapter limit I was shooting for. Yay!


	9. UST Christmas Birthday Party For All

The UST Christmas Birthday Party for Everyone

UST happens at the Christmas/birthday party with Lightning being overly friendly with Rin and Amaimon hates him, thanks. Yukio demands answers, Rin does not care to deliver them. Mephisto is forced to look, not touch and Amaimon is extra cuddly. Amaimon is punished.

A/N So has anyone noticed that with every chapter I post I end up having to add a new warning/tag to this fic lololol Gotta keep things spicy for you guys amirite? And the reason this took twice as long as the other chapters to get out is bc I spent the time drawing the cutest gd scenes from each chapter and then staring at them, wishing I could get my tablet working, instead of writing :D

Also, we're at that point in the aoe timeline where everything is cute and fluffy and then it all goes to hell and everyone's sad so get ready for that!

And I'd like to apologize in advance for what poor Amaimon gets to go through, he brought it on himself (and where's Kuro? Who knooowws, pretend he's sleeping somewhere shhh) :D

* * *

Bon was acting weird.

Rin smiled as he held out the lunch they'd saved for the ever studious exwire that Godaiin had brought for him.

He wouldn't have noticed except that the other exwire, besides standing in the rain, staring at their group like a creep before they'd called him over, smelled like Lightning and Rin was hyper-aware of the exorcist anytime he sensed his presence.

He could see Amaimon, as Ambrosia, since they were in the middle of a break between regular classes, sending Bon a glare of his own from where he was slouched against Rin's side at the table. The earth king hadn't been happy that the exwire had chosen to become Lightning's apprentice, but Rin had been able to convince him to leave it at judgmental glaring and not physical retribution, something he wasn't sure Bon fully appreciated.

It had been interesting to introduce Amaimon to his human friend who wasn't also an exorcist in training. Luckily, Godaiin, with his new and improved lackadaisical attitude towards demons, took everything in good stride and Amaimon managed to not be too annoyed at having to remember yet another human's name.

And then Yukio came over, arm still in a cast, despite being scheduled to be released from the hospital the next day.

Rin forced himself to go along with the pleasant tone his brother used, though given the topic was their upcoming finals that week and exorcist exams after winter break, nobody in the group was really all that happy to hear it.

Then, "Rin can I talk to you for a sec'."

Finding out one of the three exorcists who'd practically raised he and Yukio had just died of a heart attack was not a fun way to end lunch. Yukio told him the day the funeral had been planned for before heading back to the table.

"Hey," Rin returned to Amaimon, distracting him from contemptuous way he was eyeing Yukio, "we're all gonna be studying the rest of the day. I know that's probably not the most fun thing for you, so you don't have to come if you don't want to."

"I'll just sleep," Amaimon shrugged, pulling Rin back towards him and into his lap so he could rest his chin on his shoulder, content to stay there while waiting for the group to finish eating.

Maybe it was the winter atmosphere, or the festive mood everyone was slowly getting into, but there was something warm and companionable to the group study session that evening in the student lounge.

Rin thought he got more studying done with Amaimon sleeping with his head in his lap than he had any other time in his life. Maybe it was that he got to fidget with the demon's hair whenever he found the words on the pages too distracting, running his hands through the green strands and listening to the soft purr that came from Amaimon in his sleep.

Even his friends seemed less wary around the earth king then, probably helped along by how non-threatening he appeared in his sleep, curled like a cat in Rin's lap.

The ambient sounds of other students studying around him, the warm mugs of tea Shiemi brought to share, the pile of junk food they'd pooled together to give them energy to focus, all leant a sense of coziness to what would otherwise have been a painful night of cramming for finals by himself.

They didn't stay all night, though the lounge was open twenty-four hours, and Rin eventually woke Amaimon to head home.

"I don't know why you don't stay with us," Amaimon grumbled when he dropped Rin off at his dorm.

"I know you probably won't get it, but I can't leave Yukio," Rin sighed, leaning against the pouting earth king, "even if he's being kind of an ass right now, he's my brother and I'm not giving up on him."

"He doesn't deserve you, either," Amaimon glared up at the window to their room, tightening his arms around Rin.

"Yeah, I wish someone would tell him that," Rin huffed a deprecating laugh out, watching his breath trail away in the cold night air.

Amaimon left him with a kiss that warmed him to his toes and he went inside to try studying again, although without the demon there he ended up falling asleep at his desk within the hour.

Yukio must have come in at some point because he woke with a crick in his neck and a blanket over his shoulders.

* * *

"I've decided not to be an exorcist!"

"Wah?"

"But weren't you just saying you were going to last night?"

"Hey! Don't let you mom discourage you!" Izumo shrieked at Shiemi's sudden announcement, "I'll go back and explain to her that you should be allowed to do what you want!"

Rin watched in utter confusion as Shiemi, who'd just the day before been full of determination to become an exorcist, delivered the news that she'd be dropping out of cram school. She'd still be taking regular classes at the academy but was going to take over her mom's exorcist shop, after all.

"Thank you, Izumo," Shiemi bowed before her irate friend, "but I've decided."

Rin blinked as she turned kind eyes to him, "sorry for breaking our promise, Rin."

He mumbled something about how it wasn't important, still blindsided by her decision and wondered if maybe she was dying or something to make such a drastic change overnight.

"Ah, but I agree with Shima," Shiemi continued, smile bright with her excitement, "we should celebrate everyone's birthdays and have a Christmas party at the same time when winter break starts!"

When Shiemi had run up to their group, they'd been discussing the realization that no one had been able to celebrate their birthdays that year, forgetting them in the hectic pace of their lives. Everyone had been ready to stay at the academy over the holidays, and although Bon, Izumo, and Koneko had all wanted to spend the time studying, Shima had called them crazy for not taking advantage of the break for a party.

Of course, he'd been shot down, but when Shiemi had suggested it, suddenly it seemed like a great idea.

Rin turned to Amaimon, the demon ignoring the conversation he had no interest in, "hey, do you have a birthday?"

"A what?"

Everyone turned to the earth king, having heard Rin's question.

"You know, the day you were born," Rin tried, wondering how that'd even happened since he realized he had no clue how demons even came to be.

"I wasn't born," Amaimon furrowed his brows, chewing on the sucker he had in his mouth as he became the center of attention.

"What, did you just pop into existence one day?" Izumo wondered, crossing her arms as she tried to understand.

"Yes," Amaimon turned blank eyes at her, not knowing why this made the humans look even more weirded out.

"Give it up, Rin," Koneko sighed, shaking off the matter, "besides, I don't think you want to celebrate something like the birthday of the person whose body he's possessing, either, which is your next option."

"Er, yeah," Rin shook his head, that would be too weird, not to mention slightly amoral.

"Why don't you make his birthday the day you became a couple," Shiemi piped up, hands clasped in front of her face at the sheer cute factor of the idea.

Rin felt his cheeks pink as he glanced at Amaimon. Would that be the night of the festival or the night Amaimon had kneed him in the gut and told him he'd be teaching him demon etiquette?

And did that include Mephisto, too?

"That is disgustingly cute, Shiemi," Shima grinned at her in approval.

Bon was being suspiciously quiet and Rin almost said something about it, especially since the exwire kept sending tense looks at Amaimon. But ever since that night they'd studied in the lounge, Rin was almost hesitant to bring up what was bothering his friend. He didn't have a good track record for getting people to open up to him, anyway, if Yukio was anything to go by.

Speaking of Yukio, Rin shot a glance at where his twin was watching the conversation, wondering what his thoughts were on how demons came to be and the concept of Rin's anniversary of his relationship with one. Although, based on the cool expression on Yukio's face, Rin was betting it wasn't favorable.

"So, it's agreed then, right? Winter break birthday-Christmas party for everyone is a go?"

Rin shook himself out of his thoughts, "count me in!"

A round of agreements came from everyone, even if Shima pouted over the fact that nobody had wanted to when he'd suggested the idea.

"You students need a break, it'll be a good way to celebrate your hard work," Yukio finally said, and Rin tensed, noticing he made no mention of joining the party, himself.

"No! You have to come too," Shiemi shouted, surprising everyone with the force from her normally polite person, "I insist!"

On the one hand, Shiemi had just shocked Yukio into going. On the other hand, Rin winced, she was definitely dying, or something. Right? He shared a freaked out look with the rest of the group.

Shiemi walked off before Rin could think to say anything, taking Shima with her and gathering Paku when she saw her further ahead to start planning the party. Still, the others were there.

"Guys, you don't think she's…dying, do you?" Rin cast a paranoid glance at the other exwires.

A chorus of equally as paranoid agreements and alternative suggestions followed, nobody understanding what was wrong with Shiemi until they were all nearly hysterical.

Amaimon snorted, "she's not dying."

Rin looked up at him with wet eyes, sniffling and waiting for the demon's reasoning.

"I would have smelled if she were sick."

Yukio sighed, adjusting his glasses, "and I was going to add that her health check came back perfectly fine last time she was in."

"Still," Rin looked over to where Shiemi was organizing roles for getting ready for the party with Shima and Paku at a table down at the room at the end of the hall, "I'm gonna go ask her what's up."

Another chorus went up, this time to tell him 'no' as he was held back from going to Shiemi.

Rin broke out of their holds to go hide under Amaimon's arm, "you guys are dumb. Amaimon, back me up."

"You're all strange and I don't understand humans at all," the confused earth king responded instead, though he still folded Rin into his arms anyway, at least understanding that much.

Rin laughed, nuzzling into the demon's neck before heading over with the group to the table to receive their marching orders.

Not surprisingly, Shiemi had already organized everything, her natural talent showing. Rin and Konekomaru were given the food to handle and the rest of the tasks divided amongst the other exwires. Although, apparently Paku had dates lined up that night and the next with that guy she'd gone to the festival with, the two going steady still.

That still left-

"Um," Shiemi hesitated, turning to Amaimon, "Ambrosia, would you like to help me with getting the tree set up and decorated?"

Rin blinked, looking to Amaimon and wondering how the demon would take that.

For his part, Amaimon appeared lost at having been included, although that just meant his eyes were a little more widened than usual and his mouth was quirked in a slight frown.

"Ah! It's okay if you don't. I can do It by myself, too," Shiemi was quick to add, waving her hand in front of her face and blushing in embarrassment at the earth king's silence.

"Yeah, it's okay," Rin bumped his shoulder against the demon's, "you can come with me and get food. Or you can just go do you own thing, you don't have to join us for the party if you don't want to."

Amaimon was jolted out of his shock, shaking his head and furrowing his brow as he considered Shiemi's request, "I'll help with the tree."

He seemed even more blindsided when Shiemi and Rin turned beaming smiles on him, frown deepening at the attention.

Rin left him with a kiss, rewarding Amaimon for good behavior, though he wasn't going to let on that that's what he was doing.

He turned away, heading out with Konekomaru and feeling a deep sense of contentment that things had come so far that he could trust the demon king of earth with someone as gentle as Shiemi.

"Hey, Rin?"

Rin looked down at Koneko from where the other exwire was collecting things off shelves for the party.

"What's up?"

The smile Konekomaru gave him was sheepish, "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think, despite the occasional weird and slightly horrifying demon stuff, Amaimon is actually pretty cool. We've definitely come a long way since the start of the year because I would have thought I was crazy if I'd told past me that. Not to mention being friends with the son of Satan."

"Hah!" Rin shared a laugh at the irony of the exwire's words, "I was just thinking that myself. Seriously, thanks for having my back after everything."

"No problem, oh son of Satan," Koneko teased, "your humble servant is happy to be of assistance."

"One of these days you guys are gonna get tired of those jokes."

"Doubt, it."

* * *

"Get the fire extinguisher!"

"No! Nee, stop rolling over!"

"Protect the food!"

"forget the food, get the cake!"

Rin gaped as their hard work fell apart within seconds of Shiemi's familiar, Nee, rolling over in its sleep and taking the tree growing out of its belly down with it. The chain reaction ended with the cake destroyed, half the tables toppled, and the other half covered in fire extinguisher foam.

"I worked really hard on that food," Rin mumbled, a little heartbroken at the destruction.

Although.

The sheer randomness and absurdity soon had everyone in tears, Rin clutching at Amaimon's shirt as he doubled over in laughter. Though, by the blank look on the demon's face he was once again lost as to why everyone seemed happy their party was ruined.

"Hey, not all the food's destroyed, there's still a lot here! At least enough to make for a potluck."

"We can move the rest to our place and have the party there!"

And that's how everyone ended up arriving at Rin and Yukio's dorm, filling the large suite with conversation and the smells of food.

Rin was just turning to Amaimon where they sat around the kotatsu, finally covered with the blanket, when a cloud of pink erupted nearby, startling Yukio and Shima, and suddenly Mephisto was there.

Rin had a moment to smile brilliantly at the demon, almost getting up in his excitement when Amaimon tugged him back into his arms and Rin remembered he definitely couldn't let his friends know there was something going on between the three of them.

He pouted but settled back into Amaimon's hold anyway, content to at least know Mephisto was there, eating the food he'd prepared and enjoying the festive atmosphere.

The demon had already snapped his fingers to summon another table to fill the small space in front of the kotatsu at the other end of the room and seated himself at it with the bowl Rin had held up for him.

Rin had a moment to appreciate the content smile on Mephisto's face before his attention was drawn back to the other demon king in the room.

"Rin," Amaimon breathed into his ear, causing a shiver to go down his spine.

The look in the earth king's eyes when he turned to him was devious.

"You like to tease, right?" Amaimon murmured, nosing at his neck and wrapping his arms around him where he was sat in his lap, "and he can't do anything about it here."

Rin felt his pulse pick up at what Amaimon was getting at, shooting a look towards where Mephisto was across the room at the table with Shura and Takara, who'd both popped up to join the party just then, too.

The demon king's eyes flickered to his from where he was concentrating on pouring the wine he'd poofed into existence for whoever wanted some and Rin knew Mephisto would be watching the whole time, even though he'd be pretending not to.

"He's going to be so mad," Rin breathed back, delight staining his tone at the idea.

He turned in Amaimon's arms, looping his own over the demon's shoulders and grinning at him, "I'm going to take out my tail, I want you to comb it out for me."

Amaimon's eyes widened even as his pupils slivered at the request and he purred out his response, "perfect."

"Look at him, Amaimon," Rin leaned forward to whisper in the demon's ear, watching it twitch at the sensation and pressing his head to Amaimon's shoulder so he could muffle the conversation they were having from the rest of the room, "now take my tail out so he can see you doing it."

Amaimon smiled into his throat and Rin could feel fangs in it, "your innate ability to know exactly what will affect us most is astounding."

He felt Amaimon's clawed hands reach under his plaid button-up to untuck the shirt beneath it, another shiver going through him when the demon found his tail, trailing feather-light claws over it before unwinding it from his chest.

"Did he notice?" Rin asked, letting the tip of his tail twitch back and forth behind his back.

"He almost broke his wine glass," Amaimon answered, and Rin could hear the smirk in his words.

Rin sat back, reaching into his pocket for the small plastic comb he kept there, but when he tried to hand it to the demon, Amaimon sniffed and poofed a nicer boar-bristle brush into his hands.

"No wonder you tail is always ratty if you're using that on it," the earth king snatched the comb out of his hands, vanishing it with disgust, "keep this one."

"Rin," Bon spoke up, breaking Rin's attention from tormenting Mephisto, "would it be alright if Lightning came?"

'No', was Rin's instinctual reaction, followed closely by 'hell no' and by the soft growl from Amaimon, the demon agreed.

But, his actual ability to say 'no' to his friends was next to zero, so, "sure, Bon, I don't mind."

"Thanks, Rin," the grateful smile from Bon was almost enough to make him not regret his words.

Bon cocked his head at Rin's tail, then, frowning.

"Also, you're not gonna get your fur all over the food, are you, man?"

Amaimon snorted, glaring at Bon, "what's it to you?"

"Sorry, Bon," Rin smiled at the exwire, "my tail's been cramping pretty bad all day from keeping it wound up like this, plus the fur's getting kinda knotted and Amaimon said he'd comb it out for me so I'm just gonna knock out over here until he's done. You guys just do your thing, don't mind us, okay? I'll try to keep it away from the food."

"Glad I don't have that problem," Bon muttered, going back to the conversation he'd been having with Shima and Koneko.

"He wishes he had that problem," Amaimon growled into his ear, causing Rin to laugh because, uh, yeah, having a tail was awesome.

At the first pass of the brush over Rin's fur he turned into a boneless heap, slumping into Amaimon's chest with a purr.

The slow path Amaimon took over his fur was almost a kind of torture for Rin, too.

Then he felt the brush reach the end of his tail and Amaimon begin to tease the long fur there, each tug sending sparks down Rin's spine that he had to fight to keep from affecting him too much, considering they were surrounded by his unaware friends.

"He's furious," Amaimon said, low voice conversational as he carded his fingers through the fur, next, to lightly break through the knots there, each tug sending another sharp shock of pleasure through him, "I can see his fangs from here and his ears are pointing just a bit more than they should be."

Rin wriggled in his lap, looking over his shoulder to see for himself.

There sat Mephisto, laughing at something Shura had said.

And then those acid green eyes caught Rin's and he froze, breath stuck in his lungs at the look he saw there. The demon king's mouth definitely had more fang than it should, smile just a bit over-extended and wider than was possible for a human mouth to be.

His eyes gleamed with the promise of punishment.

Then the demon slid his gaze back to Shura and Rin could move again, letting out a small gasp and hiding his face in Amaimon's shoulder, "oh man, he's so pissed."

Amaimon shuddered beneath him, arms winding around his back, and the voice that reached Rin was full of dark excitement, repeating, "perfect."

Rin couldn't respond as Amaimon resumed his ministrations over his tail, pulling the brush up in long, sweeping movements that had Rin flushing.

He hid his face against Amaimon's chest, letting his bangs fall to cover his eyes and hoping nobody tried to talk to him because he wasn't sure he'd be able to form a coherent sentence then.

Then a knock came at the door and Lightning entered, dressed in a festive Christmas sweater and smiling that smile Rin was sure hid something horrible.

He tightened his arms around Amaimon, curling further into the earth king's hold and feeling arms tighten over him in turn.

"Wow, this is great! Thanks for inviting me, Bon!"

"Sure thing, grab a plate!"

Rin hunched his shoulders as the knight sat on the other side of Bon, spooning himself some of the stew in the center of the table. He had a moment to hope the exorcist would ignore he and Amaimon before he felt that penetrating stare hit him.

"Woah, I don't think I've seen your tail before, Rin," Lightning eyed the tail in Amaimon's hands, "most demons keep it hidden, you know."

Rin wound his tail around his waist, trying to hide it from the over-interested gaze and glaring, "yeah, so what? It was cramping up."

"Ah, yeah, I can imagine," came the cheerful response.

Then the knight somehow decided making Amaimon his next target was a smart move.

"Say, Amaimon, what's your tail look like," Lightning leered with a deviant smile that made Rin cringe in revulsion, "I've always wondered. Is it like Rin's, here, with that pretty black fur at the end? Or is it green, like your hair? It's really eating at me."

"None of your damn business, exorcist," Amaimon hissed, claws digging at Rin's back through his shirt as the earth king trembled in rage.

"Ahaha my bad, my bad," Lightning laughed, "I didn't know it was a sensitive topic. I'll head on over to the adult table. You exwires have fun now!"

"How's he gonna call that the adult table when Shura is definitely way less mature than we are, and that weirdo Takara is over there," Rin grumbled.

"As long as he's not at this table, I don't care. Mephisto can deal with him," Amaimon said, still glaring daggers at the retreating form of the arc knight.

Rin sighed, relaxing back down and dropping his chin to Amaimon's shoulder again, "he's going to be extra mad with that guy over there. Can we go back to the fun stuff now?"

"It serves him right," Amaimon growled, voice low so he didn't disturb the humans at the table, "letting that creature continue to live is his idea, let him handle it."

"Normally I wouldn't agree with you on that stuff, but right now, yeah, he totally deserves it," Rin muttered.

Amaimon grunted his agreement with that statement before bringing his hand up to rub at Rin's back.

"You know," the demon hummed, tapping a claw to Rin's spine in thought, "now Mephisto really has to control himself with that exorcist sitting across from him."

"He can't let any hint show that he's watching us," Rin breathed, eyes lighting up with glee at the realization that the Mephisto torment could continue with even higher stakes.

Rin brought his tail back out from where'd he'd hid it around his waist, letting it sway in a lazy pattern behind him.

He flipped it forward to brush against his cheek, a light pass just by his mouth, and peeked out the corner of his eyes to see a jagged smile plastered on the demon king's face as he poured wine for Lightning.

Amaimon used his claws to trail along it, the movements set to look deliberately absent, like he wasn't even focusing on his task

Rin had to bite his lip, fighting the slow-burn heat that was coiling in his belly as Amaimon scratched through the short black fur and stuck his hands up under the demon's sweater to hide how they'd begun to twitch.

"You know, this might not be such a good idea," Rin let out, finding his voice breathless, "I don't know how I'm going to stand up and get out of here without everyone noticing."

"Hmm, that does sound like a problem," came the sly response and Rin felt his heart stutter as he realized Amaimon didn't seem to care about his current state of distress.

Rin bit off a moan of surprise as the demon stopped with the light teasing and dragged his hand up in a solid tug, heat shooting straight south and making him jump at the sudden attack.

"Amaimon," Rin hissed, digging his claws hard into the demon's back, "if my friends notice I will literally die of embarrassment."

He'd forgotten for a crucial moment that the earth king was a masochist until all his painful reminder did was cause Amaimon to shudder under him, a low purr coming from his mouth and leading to another drag of his hand up Rin's tail.

Rin collapsed to Amaimon's chest, vision going hazy as pleasure rolled through his trapped appendage. He bit his tongue until it bled to stifle the moan that tried to escape once again, feeling his pants getting uncomfortably tight.

Then Shiemi appeared next to them and Rin felt terror grip his heart, in no way being presentable enough to get up if she needed him for something.

"Look up, you two!" she said instead, smiling and blushing as she held her arm above them where they were sat.

Rin looked up and blinked, seeing her with Nee in her hands, the little familiar having grown a bundle of some kind of plant with white berries on it.

"What's that?" Amaimon dead-panned, not liking his fun interrupted and Rin didn't know whether he was happy or not for it, either.

"Mistletoe! You have to kiss now," Shiemi said, voice cheerful, "I saw it in a Christmas movie that Izumo showed me!"

Oh no, Rin gulped at his naïve friend. She had no idea how literal Amaimon could be.

"I like this human tradition," Amaimon said, pulling Rin into a deep kiss before he could react to tell him she didn't mean a full on make-out session.

Rin squeaked as he found the demon slipping his tongue into his mouth to lick at the blood that remained from when he'd bitten himself earlier.

"I so called it," Shima piped up from where he had been playing cards with the other exwires, who, of course, were all watching the display Amaimon and Rin were putting on with varying levels of red faces, "his tongue's, like, a mile long. Rin's so lucky, man."

Shura's drunken 'whoop' and Lightning's obnoxious laughter from the other table was not helping.

Rin pulled back, mortified, to glare at Shima, feeling his pupils slit into their demonic form, "and I told you, it's none of your business, dammit!"

Shima was saved from Rin's retribution when the pink-haired exwire's phone rang.

"Ah, hey, Juzo! You seriously just saved my tail, man, you have no idea. What's up?"

Rin narrowed his eyes at having his vengeance interfered with but watched with curiosity as Shima put the phone on speaker so his brother could address them.

"I have news! Mamushi and I are gonna have a baby!"

Rin felt his frown break into a grin at the news, cheering with the rest of the exwires at Shima's new uncle status.

"We're having an official wedding ceremony at Toraya, although we're already married on paper."

Mamushi was put on to speak next, asking Koneko to attend the upcoming wedding. Rin could see Bon looking down, hesitation in his voice as he said he was a little busy only for Lightning to speak up and let him know it was fine to go be with his family for the new year ceremony they were having.

Rin found himself invited too and blinked in surprise, not realizing he'd left on such good terms with the family after the impure king mission.

He hid a wide smile against Amaimon's shoulder, happiness welling up in his chest at being included in something so amazing. He'd never have imagined, growing up, being invited to something like a wedding, except in some vague future at Yukio's, who he had been certain would get married before he did.

Although, Rin glanced at Amaimon. Did demon's even get married? How would that work? Yukio was still likely to get married before he did.

"Great! I'll send the invitation details later. Bye everyone!"

"Hey, let's open gifts, guys!"

Rin was so, so glad he'd been able to calm down during the phone call as he got up to exchange gifts with everyone. He shot a glare at Amaimon, who just sent a smug, fang-filled smile back at him and pulled a sucker out to wrap his tongue around it, sucking it into his mouth as Rin flashed back to Shima's very accurate comment from earlier.

Still, Rin was back to smiling at the joy of the realization that he finally had friends to celebrate with, unable to believe how much had changed since just a year ago, when he'd been a loner without any real future and no one but his twin and the exorcists at the church to call family.

And then Shiemi presented everyone with her gift of a bottled four-leaf clover she'd grown herself as a luck charm for their upcoming exorcist exams.

"Okay, that's it, you're not dying or something, right, Shiemi?" Rin burst out, not liking the wistful smile she'd been wearing as she'd told them about her gift.

Shiemi just laughed, "I'm not going anywhere, everyone. I'll be right here, at the exorcist shop, I just can't fight by your side."

That didn't help Rin's confidence much, but he couldn't think of a way to press the issue further without ruining the mood and so was forced to wave goodbye to his friends as they headed home for the night.

It was just he and Amaimon outside, Yukio having wandered back in to get out of the cold.

Before he could decide whether he would head over to Mephisto's to continue where he and Amaimon had left off, Shura poked her head through the front door and called out.

"Hey, you two love-birds, I need to borrow Rin for a minute," her slurred voice turned teasing, "I promise you can have him good as new so you can give him your gift after I give him my gift."

"That doesn't even make sense. You're drunk, Shura," Rin hissed, stomping back into the house as Amaimon huffed in irritation behind him and went to wait under the nearby lamppost.

He found Lightning had wandered off without him noticing, thankfully, and Mephisto had vanished too, less thankfully.

Yukio was waiting in the kitchen, already starting to clean the dishes, although at least they didn't have to worry about putting away leftovers, the food having been demolished.

"So," Shura drawled out, reclining on the kitchen island as Rin joined Yukio in cleaning, "I, uh. I met your mother."

Rin stopped moving, eyes widening at the revelation.

"Just once."

When she was met with silence, Shura huffed an annoyed breath, "so? You wanna hear this or not?"

Yukio nearly shouted at her to tell them, his desire for any information about their birth and mother something he and Rin had always shared a point of contention on. Rin just muttered an 'I guess' as he watched his twin get that intense look in his eyes he'd seen in him when he'd been interrogating Mephisto. It still scared Rin just the same.

But Shura continued with her story anyway, of Shiro bringing her to their mother when he hadn't known how to take care of the little spit-fire of a girl that Mephisto had tasked him with caring for, trying to pawn her off on Yuri.

They had a name to go with their faceless mother now. Rin wasn't sure what to do with that knowledge.

"Your mother was bright and kind and beautiful" Shura finished, her smile wistful as she thought back to the memory, "she had kind eyes like yours, Rin. And lots of cute little moles on her face like you, Yukio."

Yukio was leaning over the counter, drawn into the story, while Rin just dropped his eyes at the fond look Shura was wearing.

"Well, story's over, that's all she wrote!"

Shura hopped off the island with a wobble, walking over to the door before turning back to smile at them again.

"Happy birthday, boys."

And then she was gone, back to her room, which was apparently on the second floor of their dorm, something Rin definitely hadn't known, or he'd have been way more careful about bringing Amaimon over.

Rin shrugged and got back to cleaning, only to notice Yukio staring down at a plate in his hand, eyes serious.

"Rin, what do you think about what Shura said," Yukio began, hands clenching around the plate.

"Er, what do you mean?" Rin watched with wary eyes as Yukio's grip tightened further.

"Don't you want to know about our birth, Rin?"

"Not really," Rin hesitated, "it's probably not a very nice story, considering."

He turned to face his twin, twitching his lips in a small smile, "we just learned she was kind and pretty. That's enough for me."

He flinched as Yukio smacked the plate down on the counter, the harsh clack echoing in the kitchen as he shouted, "how can you say that? You're always rushing into things like this!"

And he was confronted with his twin's burning gaze, flinching at the fanaticism he saw there.

"Who's being the weak one, now?"

Rin felt his breath catch, heart stuttering in his chest at the anger in Yukio's voice.

"Listen," Yukio leaned his hands on the counter, wild look in his eyes that had Rin wanting to step back, "I've checked. There's so much missing data on her, even though she's the mother of the sons of Satan. But you know who'd have all that information? Someone who was in charge back then and who's still here now."

Rin's stomach dropped as he realized who fit that description.

"You're with Amaimon," Yukio threw like a dagger, "you can ask Mephisto and he'll probably tell you!"

The words hit like a punch to the gut and Rin grit his teeth against the anger that bubbled up at the idea that he would use his relationship as a way of manipulating and information gathering.

"I won't."

The short words made Yukio draw up, mouth gaping open.

"What? Why not? How can you be around them, knowing they hold the key to you entire past and not demand answers?" Yukio spat out, fists clenching at his sides.

Now it was Rin's turn to draw back, fangs itching to fill his mouth and biting down a furious growl that tried to erupt.

"If Mephisto wants to tell me, that's his decision," Rin hissed, losing the battle with himself and feeling his fangs drop down, "I'm not going to be the one to ask him anything like that."

"How can you trust anything they say when they won't tell you something so important?" Yukio breathed, staring at Rin like he was an alien wearing his brother's skin, unable to recognize him.

"I trust them just fine, actually, and I'm not going to be pressuring them for information like some kind of spy! So, drop it, Yukio."

Yukio looked like he wanted to argue that.

Rin had had enough, turning away and heading to the door, "I'm going to be with Amaimon tonight. I'll see you later. Good night."

He left his stunned twin in the kitchen, stalking to the exit, heart pounding and feeling like he was about to combust at any moment.

He was out the door and into the bitter winter wind a moment later, stomping forward into Amaimon's waiting arms, dropping his head to the demon's collarbone and quaking against him as he tried to cool his rage.

"I," Rin's voice shook, and he cleared his throat, trying to steady it, "am going to be staying with you guys for the next few nights, I think."

"Doesn't deserve you," came Amaimon's muttered reply, the demon snapping his fingers to replace the cold outside air with the familiar smells of Mephisto's room.

He was about to pull away from the earth king when he became aware of a burning presence in the darkness. Amaimon tensed against him as he sensed the danger, too.

They turned their attention to the deepest shadows to see two luminous green eyes staring at them and Rin was abruptly reminded of just who it was they'd been tormenting all night.

"Eins. Zwei. Drei."

"Kuchen Kukucksurh."

And they were pulled into the cuckoo prison.

* * *

Rin awoke to darkness, blinking his eyes rapidly to try adjusting only to find it absolute, even as he activated his demonic eyesight.

He tried to bring his hand to his face to rub his eyelids and see if that helped only to realize they'd been bound, jerking against whatever was holding them in place and discovering them to be impossible to break.

A whimper escaped his mouth and he summoned his flames, wincing at the blinding blue light and trying to burn the bindings at his wrists. In the light, he saw his ankles were bound, too, body spread eagle in the suffocating void, not attached to anything but the black tendrils holding him up.

And he was naked.

"You won't be breaking those, Rin."

The words that came from the darkness made Rin freeze, his flames guttering out with a hiss in the suffocating silence and his heart fluttering in his chest.

"Mephisto?"

"Hmm."

Rin jolted in his bindings as the demon's voice came from right next to his ear.

"It would be better to call me Samael, for now, I think."

"Samael," Rin managed to stutter, chest heaving in short panicked breaths as he subconsciously kept tugging his wrists in the ties.

"Where's Amaimon?"

"Ah, you want to see him?"

The way Mephisto, no, Samael, phrased that question made Rin think maybe he didn't want to know where the earth king was.

But he nodded, a sharp jerk of his chin as words failed to come.

Fingers snapped, loud in the vast space.

And a form molded out of the darkness until Rin could see it clearly.

Amaimon was bound, too. But much differently than Rin was.

Another whimper escaped Rin's throat.

Solid black spears pierced through both the demon king's arms and legs, blood sliding down to trace the contours of his body as he was held up like a mirror a few feet away.

"Amaimon!" Rin gasped out, straining against his bindings even more to try to reach the other, feeling his wrists bruising from the force until he had to stop or risk fracturing something.

The demon's pupils, when he raised his head to meet Rin's, were blown in his irises until the gold of them was just a thin ring around the black, shining like an eclipse in the dark.

"Now," Rin bit his tongue when Samael's voice came again, seeming to reach his senses from every direction, "which one of you little teases came up with that idea at the party?"

It was Amaimon, Rin remembered. But, looking at what was already happening to the earth king, Rin didn't want to add more fuel to the fire. He dropped his head to the side, opting for silence.

Amaimon screamed and Rin jerked his head back up to see the demon's tail pulled taut above him, the sight making Rin recoil as he realized it was being yanked at an angle that meant bones would be grinding against each other.

"Silence is not an answer, Rin," came the voice over Amaimon's screams.

"But, you don't like other's pain, though you are perfectly willing to throw your own life under the axe, so I can only assume you didn't answer to save Amaimon from suffering."

Rin was shaking by the time Amaimon's tail was released and he was allowed to collapse on the spears, new blood welling up at the pressure until it was the only thing Rin could smell.

"Of course," a clawed hand traced along Rin's throat, one finger running over the artery there as Rin broke out in a cold sweat, knowing how easy it would be for that claw to slip, "you'll be forgiven, this time, as you could hardly have known what you were doing when Amaimon asked you to be a part of his little plan."

The claws left his throat and Amaimon's head was jerked back by his hair, the demon releasing a choked off gasp.

"Amaimon, on the other hand, knew exactly what he was asking for. So, I won't be holding back from delivering."

Rin didn't have time to comprehend the weight of that promise before his tail was being yanked and a shocked cry ripped from his throat at the suddenness of the pain.

"I have a strong suspicion, however, that you are the architect behind the decision to use your tail as bait, so to speak."

A hand smoothed over the abused appendage as Rin trembled, the touch soothing the ache until it's no longer pain sending shocks through his body, but pleasure, and a low moan escapes his mouth.

And then something clamps over the base of his tail and Rin yelped at the cool feeling of metal pressing into the furred skin there.

"I think you'll remember this little device," Samael murmured, tapping the metal with a claw to let the noise ring in Rin's ears.

"Shura put one on you to stop you from releasing those blue flames of yours."

Rin swallowed around a dry throat, remembering the pain the metal control could bring, breath coming out faster at the anticipation of its use.

Amaimon jerked in his restraints and Rin flinched to look at the demon.

"I've just put one on Amaimon, too," the voice hummed at his ear, warm hand rubbing at his hipbone and Rin realized he was hard, waiting for the Samael's next move and not knowing when it would come.

A snap came again, and Rin was freed from the ties at his ankles only to find his arms pulled back behind him against his lower back, head pushed to the what passed for a floor in the void, and his hips raised.

His eyes found Amaimon's from where the demon was still held aloft and another thin moan left him at the hunger he saw there, the earth king watching as he was pushed into his current position as if he were the one doing it.

"How long was it, that you two kept up your teasing? Such a blatant display in front of all those oblivious human friends of yours and not a one of them noticed you all but fucking Amaimon a few feet away from their card game. I didn't take you for an exhibitionist, Rin."

"Ngh, I did- I didn't," Rin tried to explain, vision hazy as his tail was mercilessly toyed with, hips twitching with every pull along the length, leaking on the ground already and beginning to feel the edges of desperation hit him.

"Didn't what, Rin?" The hand stopped, and Rin almost thought he was being given a moment to collect himself.

The metal around his tail bit into it, electricity jolting through the nerve endings until his body felt on fire and he screamed against the ground, coming in a rush at the sudden sensation.

His hips were still held in the air, even though he was trembling in the hold, and he'd be unable to keep himself upright even if he tried.

"Didn't what, Rin?"

Rin let out a sob, feeling his saliva as it pooled next to his open mouth where he'd been panting into the floor, but he forced himself to answer the question, scared to find out what would happen if he didn't.

"I didn't know Amaimon was going to go that far!" Rin cried out, turning tear-filled eyes up at the earth king, "I thought he was just going to brush it."

Amaimon screamed a second later, muscles twitching as if he was being electrocuted and Rin realized he was witnessing what he'd just been through exacted on the other demon.

The earth king was hard, too, though he didn't have the added benefit of Samael's touch on him like Rin did so, when the torment of the tail clamp ended, he was left suffering in his bonds, head dropping to his chest and gasping heaving breaths.

"I believe Amaimon has taken advantage of your trusting nature, Rin, to get what he wants."

Samael stroked his hand down Rin's shoulders along his tensed muscles and Rin froze as that hand made it to the small of his back, just over his trapped tail, waiting for the pain to come again.

His wide eyes were locked on Amaimon, almost pleading with the earth king, though he didn't know what for, exactly. Amaimon, for his part, was writhing against his restraints, uncaring about the blood that the movements kept pulsing out of the holes in his limbs as he watched the way Samael toyed with Rin.

"I'm going to be kind to you, Rin," Samael spoke, brushing a clawed hand over Rin's flushed cheek to clear his sweat-soaked hair away from his face.

Rin let out a whine at the gentle caress, trying to push up into it, only to find the hand at his spine prevented him from moving anywhere.

"But not too kind."

And Rin screamed again as he found himself impaled, his legs spread until they ached as Samael shoved into him without warning.

He felt something tear, pain throbbing out in a hot wave from his entrance and unable to do anything about it as hips slammed into his, pushing his face into the ground.

His demonic healing kicked in and he moaned when his tail was grabbed. The rough pulls Samael gave it had him hardening once more as the throbbing agony became tendrils of pleasure twisting into tighter and tighter knots inside him until he was trying to rock back onto the hips over his to no avail, still held in his position by the demon king's unforgiving hand.

He felt himself getting close for the second time that night, back arched to get Samael as deep as he could take him, each thrust rubbing against the bundle of nerves inside, as his body shook with the force of them.

Rin was just peripherally aware of the sounds coming from his mouth, too focused on what Samael was doing to him to try to control his cries and pleas, though what he was begging for, he didn't know.

The tail clamp activated again.

Rin's voice was gone, unable to do anything except gag at the pain in a silent scream. Still, he came, feeling himself tighten around Samael even as the demon continued to move in him without slowing.

Amaimon screamed again, too, and Rin turned watery eyes up to the earth king to see his tail clamp had also activated. The demon's spine was snapped back at a harsh angle, his ears and fangs extended into his demonic form as he lost control of himself.

And he still hadn't come, though he was leaking against his stomach and canting his hips to try to get any kind of friction, only to fail with an animalistic moan.

Rin didn't have time to feel sorry for the demon as Samael picked up the pace, movements becoming erratic until Rin hissed, the overstimulation snaking through him and burning up along his spine as he writhed on the ground to escape and couldn't.

"Samael, please," Rin choked out, hands clawing in their bindings and arms sore where usually he'd be scrabbling at the surface of whatever the demon took him on and the fact that he was unable to now had him keening in frustration.

He found teeth at his shoulder and, before he could do anything, they sunk into him, the sharp flash of pain was followed by a hot rush as Samael shuddered his release into him, growling as he worked his tongue over the ragged holes in Rin's skin and pressed bruises into Rin's hips until he'd finished.

Rin was a mess on the floor of the void, eyes sightless and over-heated body shaking in uncontrolled bursts as if he was still being electrocuted by the tail clamp.

He found his body turned to lay on his back, whining at the pain of resting on his still tied arms and clenching his eyes shut as if he could escape that way.

A clawed hand ran through his mussed hair, tugging it away from where it was plastered to his forehead and he felt Samael lean over him, heat emanating from the demon's body in a heavy blanket, to trail his long tongue over the streaks of tears on Rin's blotchy face.

His jaw was pressed into until he opened his mouth further and Samael's tongue slipped in, swallowing Rin's ragged gasps until he moaned into the kiss, wishing he could bring his arms up to pull the demon closer to him.

Rin's breath stuttered out of him when Samael finally withdrew, licking at Rin's wet lips with a satisfied hum before bringing up a calloused thumb to slowly brush them dry.

"Will you leave Amaimon to his punishment, then, Rin?"

The soft question brought Rin's attention to the wretched sobs coming from the still trapped earth king and Rin shivered to realize the tail control had been left on while he'd been coming down from his release.

When he managed to open his eyes, the only part of Samael he could make out in the darkness was the demon's own slit-pupiled green eyes and the hint of a fanged smile.

"Please, Samael," Rin whimpered again, pushing his chest up against the demon's in a full-bodied glide of skin, trying to appease the elder, "let me help him."

"Well," Samael nosed into his throat, inhaling a deeply satisfied breath that had Rin quivering and arching his neck back to present him better access, "since you begged so prettily for me, I suppose I can allow it."

The demon snapped his fingers and Rin's arms were freed, making him gasp at the relief of it, pins and needles buzzing through the weak limbs as he laid under the demon until he could even move to roll over.

Getting his feet under him took the work of a solid minute, though seeing the agony on Amaimon's face was enough to get him taking a first wobbling step, body shaking at the effort until he'd made it to the trapped earth king.

Amaimon was looking at him but Rin didn't think he was even aware anymore, eyes glazed and body still dripping blood from the spears in his arms and legs.

Rin brought his hands up to Amaimon's hair, carding his claws through it as the demon groaned, head lolling in his grip.

Rin pressed a firm kiss to Amaimon's sweat-drenched crown before kneeling in front of him and taking him into his mouth, hearing the weak keen come from the demon's abused vocal chords.

He brushed a soft hand over Amaimon's tail, the clamp having stopped its torture to leave the tail twitching from the overstimulation as Rin tried to sooth it.

It almost took nothing at all from Rin before the demon was coming into his mouth, release trailing down his lips as Amaimon moaned over him and slumped in his restraints.

Rin pulled back, resting on his legs as exhaustion hit him and he swayed where he sat.

He wavered too far and felt himself start to fall, only to be caught in the warm cage of Samael's arms and brought to the demon king's chest where he dropped his head to nuzzle into the embrace.

The demon snapped his fingers and Amaimon was released, though he didn't drop, Samael keeping him floating where he'd fallen in the void.

Another snap and Rin blinked when his eyes saw light again, though it was the light of a night-lit room, bright after the total darkness they'd been in.

He found himself snapped clean of his exertions and laid down under the cool duvet of Mephisto's bed, Amaimon coming to rest next to him.

He turned and snuggled further into Amaimon, the demon giving a sleepy murmur, already drifting off to sleep.

Rin turned his eyes to search for Mephisto, frowning when he noticed the demon standing at the end of the bed, watching them.

"Mephisto," Rin complained, unable to form a complete sentence just yet, but knowing he wanted the demon to not be so far away.

"So even that hasn't scared you away," came the soft voice, said more to himself than to Rin, though he heard it anyway.

Rin just smiled, feeling his eyes shutter without his permission as sleep dragged at them.

"I needed that," Rin found the energy to say, fingers twitching as he tried to beckon Mephisto over when the demon still hadn't joined them in bed.

"I was so angry. I wanted to destroy something. You helped," he admitted, sighing in disappointment when Mephisto remained where he was.

His eyes had closed, and he'd resigned himself to not getting what he wanted, by the time he felt the mattress sink as Mephisto slid under the covers beside him.

A content purr drifted out of him and he wrapped his tail around Mephisto's arm where it lay over his stomach, finally allowing himself to settle into the warmth of sleep.

"Amaimon is right," he caught just before he went under, "we don't deserve you."

And he was gone, the words to be forgotten by the time he'd wake up the next morning.

* * *

Yeah, so that happened :D

Um… I have no excuses, they're demons and demons don't, historically, do nice stuff?

And remember, folks, it's only going to get rougher from here, though maybe not in the way you'd expect :}


	10. Emotional Devastation Ahoy

Emotional Devastation Ahoy

A/N Or not, YMMV, after all :D Introducing: Generic white-haired anime pro-tag, horn nubs(!), judgmental human friends, Mephisto being bad, and Rin being worse. Amaimon suffers once again, the poor thing.

This is it, you guys, the chapter I've all been waiting for is nigh :D If you haven't read up to the recent chapters in aoe you may want to… not read this one? I guess? lololol It will be full of manga spoilers (the following chapter, too) :D

The problem for poor Amaimon in this particular chapter is that he has the unfortunate ability to draw on Rin's demonic side, where, ironically, Mephisto draws on his humanity.

And I can't tell whether Rin's little horn nubs are actual horns, or, like, pre-horns stuck under the skin, somebody help me out here bc the curiosity is killing me D: Also, I need to know for… scientific purposes :D

* * *

Rin was more comfortable than he'd ever been in his entire life.

His mind was still waking up in increments, but his body instinctively knew where he was, surrounded by the familiar scents of Mephisto's bedroom and knowing he and Amaimon were nearby somewhere.

The covers were warm, and Rin wriggled further into them, content to drift back off before he fully awakened.

Something traced along his jaw and his nose twitched at the sensation, turning his head into the touch with a sigh.

A wet heat slid down his neck and Rin felt his body shiver when it cooled in the air, brows furrowing as he began to pull himself out of sleep.

The warm cocoon of blankets he'd been wrapped in was being tugged off him and Rin reached out with a clawed hand to drag it back with a tired grumble only to find his hand gently pushed aside.

That wet heat was being mouthed down his chest, then, and Rin fought against the lethargic undercurrent keeping his eyes closed as awareness pressed with increasing insistence.

He managed to crack one eye open just as he was enveloped, warm suction sending a jolt of adrenaline right to his heart and he came awake with a gasp, trying to shoot up in the bed only to find himself held down to the pillow under his head.

Rin's eyes fluttered as an inadvertent moan left him, back arching as he tried to push into the mouth over his length and discovered he couldn't move his hips either, left to pant at both the surprise and pleasure winding through his body.

"Are you awake, now, Rin?"

Rin opened his eyes fully, having clenched them shut without noticing and looked up to see Mephisto smiling down at him.

"Wha?"

His mind still hadn't caught up, flush rising to his cheeks as he stared at Mephisto without comprehension.

"Not quite yet, then," Mephisto said, smile turning sly as he leaned over to tease Rin into a slow kiss, running the pads of his fingers along Rin's jaw to follow up to the points of his ears and back down again.

"Mmf!" Rin tried to question around the kiss, hips twitching in the hold on them as another slow pull over his length sent a shudder straight through him.

By the time the Mephisto released him Rin was breathless, limp against the bed and staring, openmouthed, up into the demon's green eyes.

Mephisto let his gaze slide away in a deliberate move from Rin's to skim down his body and Rin followed, clenching his teeth together to cut off the squeak that wanted to come out when he saw what had woken him up.

Amaimon paused in his ministrations when Rin met his eyes from where the demon had been leisurely tonguing at his length to smirk at him, licking his lips and watching the way Rin tracked the movement with smug pleasure.

"Amaimon is going to apologize for the way he tricked you yesterday, Rin," Mephisto said against his cheek, the demon's hair tickling where it brushed at his skin.

"Oh," Rin croaked out, unable to look away as Amaimon drew his mouth up along him in a measured drag against his skin that had Rin trembling in anticipation

His heart pounded in his chest and his stomach tensed as Amaimon took him down just as slowly, mouth stretched and tapered tongue winding in twisting patterns of pressure and he still wouldn't let Rin move like he wanted to.

Rin whimpered, shooting a helpless glance back at Mephisto only to find the demon focused on what Amaimon was doing with possessive eyes, as if he was contemplating jumping the earth king where he lay.

The thought of seeing the two demons together sent a shuddering breath through Rin, drawing Mephisto's attention to him and making Rin lick his lips, finding he really wanted the other to kiss him again.

"Mephis-"

Rin's request was cut off and he smiled into the kiss Mephisto dropped onto his mouth, reaching up to bring him closer and feeling a purr rumble in his chest.

He gasped into the demon king's mouth as Amaimon decided to stop teasing, pulling away to moan and dropping back to the mattress, body weak at the intense sensation.

Mephisto shadowed him down, sucking bruises into Rin's chest until Rin could figure out how to move his arms again and brought them to the demon's hair to fist there.

His tail convulsed under where it was trapped beneath his body and Rin groaned in frustration when he tried to lift his hips to free the trapped appendage and Amaimon still wouldn't let him move.

"Amaimon, please," Rin managed to beg, unable to see the demon with Mephisto in the way, though somehow that just made what he was doing all the more intense, the shameless noises in the otherwise silent room teasing his ears and making him blush at how dirty it all sounded.

Amaimon paused over him and Rin felt desperation begin to burn in his bones, biting at his cheeks to cut off the frustrated whine trying to force its way past his lips.

The sound broke loose anyway when Amaimon let a deep purr rumble through his mouth, vibrating around Rin and sending electricity singing along his nerve-endings until Rin tensed, body pulled taut like a string, and came into the demon's throat with a long groan.

Mephisto untangled Rin's fingers from his hair, letting his hands fall limp to the bed as Rin trembled in the afterglow.

Amaimon withdrew from his position, mouth leaving Rin with a wet pop that had Rin blushing again, doubly so when the demon gave a satisfied lick to his lips, eyeing Rin from lowered lashes.

And then Mephisto pounced on Amaimon, hauling the earth king into a domineering kiss and pressing their bodies flush together next to Rin's legs.

Mephisto growled into the kiss as Amaimon bit until he drew blood, rubbing his chest against the silk robe Mephisto was wearing in a sinuous glide of his body.

Rin propped himself onto his elbows, a buzzing building in his ears and mind going numb as he watched the display.

Mephisto got his hand around Amaimon's length, running a tight grasp over it until Amaimon moaned into his mouth, reaching forward with his own hand to tug Mephisto out of his robe to reciprocate.

Rin's mouth went dry, breaths coming fast and shallow in his chest as the two fell against each other, their kiss turning sloppy and erratic and their movements becoming more frantic with every passing second.

Amaimon was the first to give out, coming with a cry in Mephisto's hand, his own stuttering its pace until he could recover enough to resume, twisting around the other demon's length with renewed focus until Mephisto followed suite with his own cry, slumping to rest over the smaller demon and shuddering there.

Rin's mouth moved wordlessly as he tried to think of a way to convey exactly how hot the sight of the two demons together was and failed to think of anything, wishing he had a way with words like Mephisto did, or at least Amaimon's blunt approach to things.

"God, I could watch the two of you forever," Rin mumbled, eyes wide as he imprinted the way they intertwined with each other into his memory.

The sound of his voice had Amaimon opening his eyes to glance at him out of the corner of them, gold glinting as he registered the words.

Mephisto drew his head away from Amaimon's shoulder to give Rin a considering look.

Rin just sent them a wide smile, eyes crinkling closed, before dropping back to the bed with a whump, "thanks, guys. Apology accepted."

He was joined a moment later by Amaimon, turning his head to nuzzle into the demon's neck with a contented sigh.

"Going back to bed already? And after Amaimon worked so hard to wake you up?"

Rin cracked an eye open to see Mephisto cocking his head at him, arms folded in mock exasperation.

"It's winter break," Rin delivered, closing his eyes again and moving more firmly into Amaimon's arms, "I'm not getting up unless someone forces me out of this bed."

"Mmm," Mephisto breathed against the back of his neck as he settled along Rin's back, "I think I can live with those conditions."

With Mephisto's blessing, Rin got back to enjoying his well-earned lazy day.

* * *

The days he spent with the two demons went a long way in allowing Rin to cool his anger towards Yukio.

It was a still an awkward affair when he made it to the train station to meet with the rest of the exwires to go to the wedding happening the next night and Rin was sure everyone noticed the way he and Yukio weren't really acknowledging each other.

But he didn't want to ruin something like a wedding for his friends, so he forced himself to smile until he'd tricked his mind into a better state, spending the train ride catching up on how their breaks were going.

"Ah, Rin," Shiemi turned to him, frowning as she looked for something that wasn't there, "Ambrosia isn't coming?"

Rin shot a glance towards Yukio, darting away before his twin could notice and smiling at Shiemi, "nah, he didn't want to be somewhere surrounded by so many people for so long. It makes him uncomfortable. Plus, I'm not sure how well they'd take another demon showing up, I'm still surprised they like me enough to invite me."

Bon snorted from where he was sitting across from them, "they like you fine, idiot. Although you're probably right that the wedding isn't a great time to introduce Amaimon to them."

They made it, heading up to Bon's home, the inn being the only place that had any space available for their group with the amount of family members already arrived.

And Rin didn't have time to worry anymore, swept into the chaos of helping prepare food and other miscellaneous last-minute tasks, the energetic spirits of the people around him doing wonders for his mood until he was genuinely happy.

It felt like no time at all until he was collapsing in his seat beside Konekomaru, Bon, and Yukio, dressed for the wedding and watching Mamushi be led down the aisle.

He wasn't the only one not hiding tears at the beautiful ceremony.

When it was over, Rin looked around to find Yukio, blinking to notice him already gone. He found Shiemi instead, "hey, uh, you see where Yukio wandered off to?"

Shiemi bit her lip, frowning as if considering whether she would speak or not, "um, Rin. Is there anything wrong between you two? It's just, I haven't seen Yuki talk to you once this whole time and…"

Rin flinched, dropping his chin, of course he'd been noticed, though hopefully it had just been Shiemi and not the others, too, "we had… an argument after the party. I was staying with Amaimon the whole time until I saw him again at the strain station."

Shiemi looked at him with sad eyes, reaching forward to draw him into a hug that Rin found himself shuddering against, not realizing how badly his twin's avoidance was hurting him until just then.

"I don't know how to reach him anymore, Shiemi," Rin whispered, voice breaking and tears burning down his cheeks into her hair, "he won't talk to me, and he's got this scary look in his eyes that won't go away, and I can't do anything about it."

"Oh, Rin," Shiemi murmured, her own voice thick with tears, "he'll come around. He has too. Maybe I can talk to him when we get home."

Rin sniffled, pulling back to give her a watery smile, "I always though you got him better than I did, you know. But I don't want to put everything on you to solve, either. You shouldn't have to fix our messes."

"He's my friend, Rin, too," Shiemi said, voice firm, "and so are you are, and I don't want to see either of you like this. So, let me help."

The relief her words sent through him made Rin feel guilty, knowing the challenge she was going to be facing in his stead and still not wanting to stop her. Because as it was, he was at a dead end and couldn't see a way out. If Shiemi wanted to wade into the turbulent waters to drag Yukio from them, then he wouldn't dissuade her at this point, he didn't have the energy to fight anymore.

"Thank you, Shiemi," Rin brought her back into a grateful hug, tension fading a bit at the shared struggle.

And then someone turned the TV on, having heard about a major explosion in the city at the Ikebukuro Station and there was a cyclops demon attacking.

Rin was still aware enough to see Yukio enter back into the room, Bon and Shima trailing behind him looking wary. But he didn't have time to wonder about it as Yukio was gathering them together, letting them know Shura had summoned them back to the academy to deal with the sudden influx of demonic activity they were seeing.

Yukio was taking a key to get on the frontlines quicker while they had to take the next train back to the academy. And somehow Shima also had a key that he was using to go do "spy stuff" as he said, causing Rin to glare because he still could not understand why they let the blatant spy off so easily when they couldn't be sure of his allegiances at all.

Rin moved down the train aisle a bit later, feeling a knot of tension returning.

Bon was already at his laptop and Rin walked by him, letting the other exwire work at whatever it was he'd probably been tasked with by Lightning.

But his name being called by the other had him stopping, a little uneasy at the somber look he received.

"Hey, there's something I gotta talk to you about," Bon said, holding his eyes over the screen of his computer, "not right now, but soon. Does tomorrow morning work for you?"

"Uh, yeah, sure, Bon," Rin mumbled back, anxiety racketing up even further as Bon just nodded and went back to his work.

Someone pulled up their phone and Rin could see updates on their social media about what some were calling a prank on people in Tokyo. Because some people could see the cyclops attacking the station and others couldn't. Then someone found another video of exorcists in action and Rin watched Shura take down the cyclops with help from General Jack Frost, summoned by Lightning to boost her sword and allowing her to unleash a devastating finishing move on the demon.

He shared worried looks with the other exwires as conversation in the train cart amongst the unaware civilians focused entirely on the situation they were heading into, fidgeting in his seat with the building tension.

They made it off in a rush, heading out onto the streets outside the academy station and began to head back to Rin's dorm to await instructions.

Rin was drawn up short as he saw an entourage of high-level exorcists moving past them, and Lighting, carried by his scruff in the hand of a truly massive giant of a man.

"Lightning!"

The exorcist looked over at Bon's cry, smiling without care at the worry in his apprentice's tone, "ah, looks like they caught me sooner than I expected. I probably won't be back for a while but keep working on that report for me, okay, Bon?"

They watched with helpless faces as the exorcist was carried away, though with nothing to do they had no choice but to keep heading home.

True to his word, Bon was already in the lounge working on finishing the report as everyone sat to eat a quick dinner Rin prepared in the dorm's kitchen nearby.

Besides preliminary reports of what was happening on the news, there was nothing left to go on and, with dinner finished, they decided to call it a night. Though Shiemi ended up heading back to her house and Izumo back to her dorm, the others didn't want to leave, not knowing when they'd be called on and not wanting to be alone just then.

It was snowing, and Rin could only wonder if Yukio had anything warm to eat, wherever he was.

When Rin made it down to the kitchen early the next morning, Bon and Konekomaru already had the TV on the news. Rin blinked to see Mephisto as a guest speaker, the demon being called in as an "expert" on the situation. The irony of it had Rin cracking a smile to see the demon get to enjoy being the center of attention.

Then Bon sighed and looked up at him, closing his laptop with finality.

"Rin, I think I should talk to you now."

Not liking the foreboding tone in his friend's voice, Rin nodded and left the kitchen to follow Bon into the hallway.

"I kinda don't know if I should tell you this," Bon began, rubbing at the back of his head and avoiding Rin's eyes.

"It's about your brother."

"Rin!"

They both flinched at the yell, turning to the door to see Shiemi looking like she'd run the whole way there as she panted for air.

Rin started to go over to her when her head shot up, tears in her eyes and red faced.

"It's Yuki!"

They moved to the cafeteria out of the hallway, Shiemi accepting the mug of tea Konekomaru brought her and sat at the table to collect herself.

The story came out then, Bon speaking first while they waited for Shiemi.

Yukio had pointed his gun in Bon's face, demanding answers about what the investigation was that he and Lightning had been working on, and what they knew about the mystery of he and Rin's birth.

Rin froze, panic clipping his heart as he heard that, flashing back to the conversation they'd had the night of the party and knowing the story was true.

Izumo had arrived in the middle of things, staring in shocked silence while Bon relayed what had happened at the wedding.

"Yuki," Shiemi spoke up, then, drawing Rin's attention as he stared in morbid fascination, feeling his world crumbling as he wondered what news she would deliver.

"He told me he's all alone, without friends or family," her voice broke, new tears building in her eyes as she clenched them closed at the memory, "I got so angry. I tried to tell him it wasn't true, but I think I messed up and he ran out."

He'd had it.

Rin bolted, feeling his body steam in the winter air as he made it outside into the snow, flames hissing just beneath the surface of his skin and fangs elongating in his mouth.

Yukio.

No more letting his twin hide. He was going to drag whatever was up with him out if it was the last thing he did. He-

He didn't know what he was going to do.

Rin ran, though he didn't know where he was going, exactly, heading towards Shiemi's house through the city where Yukio's last known location was to track him from there.

"Hey! There's been gunfire- a shooting- at that government press conference just now!"

Rin's attention was pulled to the open-air restaurant he was running by, seeing the crowd of regulars staring at the TV screen at whatever was on it.

"Who was shot?"

"Wasn't it that guy from the Knights who kinda looks like a clown? It looked like the bullet hit him right in the forehead!"

Rin was on top of the bar and in front of the screen in the time it took him to process those words, feeling a broken sound leave his throat as he saw a view of a stage, unable to find Mephisto anywhere on it but the black form of an exorcist crouched to the side and behind the podium gave him a good idea of where the demon was.

And a group of exorcists restraining his brother on the floor with the words "suspected shooter apprehended" flashing across his vision in a pulse of red.

"Where is this?" He snarled behind him at the people, irritated at him for blocking their view.

"The, er, Japanese Prime Minister's residence, kid."

Rin was gone, surprised shouts following him as he raced to find a way to the train station, feeling like he was hyperventilating as concern for Mephisto and anger towards Yukio bit into his mind, feeling his vision tunneling.

That was when the atmosphere changed, and he stumbled, heart pounding as a wave of miasma filled the air.

His eyes were sightless as he tried to comprehend what he was feeling, something was pressing at his chest and he couldn't breathe, fully in the throes of a panic attack.

That was when the sounds of fear began around him and he looked up, eyes widening as the people near him were staring like he'd grown wings and horns, fear in their gazes.

"Is that a monster?" Someone whispered.

Others began taking up the epitaph, and Rin felt ambushed, turning in place and finding nowhere to go.

They could see his demonic features, pointed ears and fangs suddenly visible to them and he realized what the cause of the miasma was. They might not have noticed them regularly, but he'd let his fangs down and his eyes slit, and his ears must have elongated in his anger. All that was missing was his tail.

The Gehenna gate had been released from Mephisto's hold.

Rin bolted, needing more than ever to see the demon king and assure himself that he was okay and not dead. He could take a few bullets. He knew he could. But logic wasn't ruling him at the moment.

He'd made it to a crowd of people, police keeping them away from the news van reporting on the situation and Rin was about to just hop over the whole knot before he saw the military convoy being let through and caught sight of Shura in one of the trucks.

He was at the window in seconds to Shura's shocked face, though she rolled it down and had the driver stop show she could talk with him.

"Where's Mephisto!"

His question stopped her short.

"You, you mean Yukio?" Shura corrected, looking at him with a strange expression that Rin couldn't place.

"Him too," Rin growled, feeling his fangs drop down again, sensing that his twin was somewhere nearby, probably even in the back of the truck Shura was in.

His flames licked harder under his skin.

"Rin," Shura drew his attention back to her, face resigned, "I don't think Yukio will be coming back."

That stopped Rin cold as Shura told him exwires and lower-class exorcists were being ordered to stay on standby in their quarters.

"And, Rin," Shura dropped her gaze, voice coming out in a disbelieving whisper, "Yukio may have inherited Satan's flames. He's being taken to get tested."

The last brick crumbled, and Rin felt like he'd been the one shot that night.

"Go home, Rin," Shura ended, already turning to sit back in her seat.

"Wait!" Rin shouted, voice almost a roar as his flames came out in a quick burst of blue light throwing Shura's face in a startled relief as he grabbed at the door on the window, hand crunching through the metal there at his loss of control, "where's Mephisto?"

"Rin!" Shura gasped, pulling back from the door and eyeing the damaged he'd done, "he was brought back to Faust Mansion, he's there. But why do you want to know so bad? You're scaring me, kid."

Rin was gone, darting back through the crowd to Shura's yells for him to stop.

The mad dash for the mansion passed him by, flying through a blur of streets to yelps from people he brushed through until he took to the roofs.

He'd given up on pretending to be human for the night.

Rin hopped the gate to the mansion, pushing open the door and making for Mephisto's room without hesitation, unerringly knowing where the demon was.

He passed Belial in the hall, ignoring the way the demon eyed him with a wariness in his stance, backing away like he was dangerous.

Rin had the last door open and shut in the next heartbeat, focus zeroing in to the still form on the bed in the darkness of the room.

He stood over the bed, unable to remember moving, but now that he was there, he found he couldn't move at all.

Mephisto was unconscious, not dead, that much at least registered. But he didn't know what to do with that revelation, stuck in indecision, claws flexing with every twitch of his hands.

He wanted to scream, he wanted to cry.

He wanted to kill Yukio. He didn't.

So, he stayed there, trembling and panting short breaths that left him feeling like he wasn't getting enough oxygen until his lungs ached.

"Rin."

And Amaimon was there, though he hadn't approached, staying at the door to the room and watching Rin with the same wary eyes everyone else seemed to have around him that night.

"He's gonna be okay, right?" Rin said, voice scratching out of his throat, feeling like his heart was too tight behind his ribcage.

Amaimon gave a slow nod, still not moving from where he was.

Rin let out a wounded sound, not understanding why the earth king wasn't next to him.

"Amaimon, why are you over there?"

It was just like before, at the shrine.

"Why are you avoiding me again?" Rin felt himself ask, head dropping forward and bangs falling to shield his eyes as anger at Yukio and the whole situation twisted its thorns through his skin.

When Amaimon just froze by the door, Rin's lips pulled back over his fangs, startled to find that they had filled his mouth without him knowing.

"Come here, Amaimon."

Was that his voice? Rin had never heard it sound like that, a sibilant hiss that was more like a snake before it struck than anything human.

Whatever it was, it got Amaimon to finally come over to him, so he didn't think about it too hard.

He was about to pull Amaimon into his hold when the demon reached his side only to find him sinking to his knees by the bed, neck arched back as if it was an offering to him.

Rin was on the exposed throat before he knew what was happening, fangs closing around it as he pressed Amaimon to his body in an aching embrace.

He didn't bite, just breathed as he shook against the demon, letting his wild emotions rip through him while he came undone.

It was Amaimon bringing his clawed hands up to cradle his head that finally broke the spell and Rin gasped, sitting back to stare at the earth king in total confusion at what had just transpired.

"Your eyes," Amaimon explained once he'd ascertained that Rin was himself again, "they warp when you're no longer in control. It's dangerous to approach you when you're like that."

"I," Rin gulped around his dry throat, "I didn't know that."

He slumped down, staring at his hands on his knees as he felt shame burn through him. That he'd made Amaimon scared of him, or at least cautious, like he might hurt the demon, dug into his mind.

"I'm sorry," Rin mumbled out, voice faint, as he closed his eyes, the shame growing further until he curled over his lap.

He froze as Amaimon shifted forward to press a kiss to his hair, lingering there.

"That human twin of yours didn't shoot him," Amaimon began after a while, wrapping his arms over Rin's shoulders.

"What?" Rin breathed, pulling away to look into Amaimon's eyes, hope trying to push its way into his heart.

"Mephisto told me to let you know. It wasn't him."

The gasp of relief that left Rin's lungs had him swaying in Amaimon's hold, dropping his head to the demon's shoulder and clenching his fists at his coat.

"I have to get him out of there," Rin spoke, voice low, the realization hitting him as he remembered what else Shura had let him know about Yukio. About being tested for Satan's flames, like she already knew he had them.

Amaimon sighed, "Mephisto said you would say that, too."

"Mephisto should have dodged," Rin growled, glaring at the still figure on the bed.

Amaimon just looked at him and Rin had the sinking suspicion that Mephisto once again, had known something like that was going to happen.

Movement came from the bed then, and Rin was up and leaning over it to watch Mephisto crack open his eyes as the demon woke.

"Who did it?" Rin found himself hissing again, swallowing the noise and shaking his head to force himself calm.

His anger only got a wry smile from the demon and the blankets shifted as he brought his hand out to rest it on Rin's cheek, despite the shaking in the limbs from the exertion.

"I have my suspicions," Mephisto said instead of answering, brushing his claw just under Rin's eye when his non-answer caused it to twitch in aggravation, "you shouldn't concern yourself with that. The truth will come out eventually, but you have more important things to worry about than me."

"No, I don't," Rin grumbled, averting his gaze to press his cheek further into Mephisto's palm, not wanting to see the knowing look in the demon king's green eyes.

"I believe you brother needs you more than I do, or have you given up on him, finally?"

Rin glared at the dig. Mephisto knew he'd never be able to give up on Yukio and it was a cheap shot to remind him of that.

"No," Rin sighed, releasing his anger and bringing his hand up to Mephisto's, "I need to get back to the others and see if they'll help me rescue him. I'm glad you're okay."

"Go, then, Rin," Mephisto said, "I need to speak with Amaimon. I'll be sending him along to help you."

Rin nodded, closing his eyes and breathing in the demon king's scent, letting it calm him further as he prepared for what was ahead.

He opened his eyes again, lips quirked in a smile as he leant down to place a kiss on Mephisto's head like a benediction, right over the bandage where the bullet had hit.

Rin got up, the demon's hand trailing away from his face and dropping to the bed.

Amaimon stood aside as he passed, face blank as if unsure what he should do. Rin let a wide smile form, the fact that the ruthless earth king didn't know how to handle emotions at all still absolutely hilarious to him.

His smile threw the demon off and Rin went up to him to press a kiss to his cheek, "I'll see you later, then, right?"

Amaimon looked to Mephisto as if lost, although at the other demon's tired smirk, he turned back to Rin and nodded, letting out a short noise of affirmation.

He left the two to make their plans, heading home to make his own.

* * *

"Amaimon."

Amaimon forced himself to look away from where Rin had exited, heart thudding in his chest because he could not understand why the younger demon hadn't tried to rip them apart for their clear deceptions yet and it was making him feel panicked.

Especially knowing what was to come.

He knew how he would react if he'd discovered such machinations against himself.

But Mephisto was already moving onto the next stage of his plan, outlining how he anticipated events to play out and making a script for Amaimon to read that was way too over-dramatic where Amaimon would prefer to just kill the annoying humans in his way and be done with things.

"You know very well how Rin would take you slaughtering helpless humans in his sight," Mephisto chided, causing Amaimon to grumble, because, yes. He did know.

Mephisto snapped, bringing a stack of the invisibility coats out to give to Amaimon for the humans, which Amaimon snapped away to pull out later.

He was heading for the door, almost at it when a sound from Mephisto brought him up short, turning back to look at the elder where he lay in the bed.

"Amaimon," Mephisto's eyes watched him, expression grave, and Amaimon had to resist clenching his fists together at the unease the tone made him feel.

"Be careful."

With that foreboding farewell, Amaimon left to catch up to Rin.

* * *

"Foolish humans. Can you feel it? The air is brimming with the madness of Gehenna."

Terrified gasps echoed his words from the pitiful humans below him.

Amaimon read from the script Mephisto had made, with the barest inflection, not understanding the other demon's need for theatrics at all.

"While Samael is weakened, the king of earth shall bring chaos to Assiah."

"Waa hah hah haha!"

"Ha."

Amaimon sighed, watching the humans scatter like ants, fleeing from his presence and leaving the area free for the exwires to sneak in.

He couldn't see them, but he smelled them well enough, and they eventually gathered around him, dropping their hoods so they were visible.

"Rin and Yukio escaped!"

Izumo had spoken, relief evident in her voice.

"We've gotta get out of here, too, before they realize what happened and catch us," Bon ordered.

"I'm going after them," Amaimon was already turning away, ignoring their shouts and leaping to the railing far above. He hoisted himself up to the connecting walkway leading outside to the long terrace where he knew the twins were headed and ignored the smell of the spy coming from a hidden alcove to dart down the corridor.

He made it to see Rin facing off with his twin, snarl rising to his lips at the expression on the worthless human's face.

He could hear Rin pleading, voice desperate, until a blinding light appeared and Amaimon sensed Lucifer's work bringing the military copter to their location.

And there was the spy, beckoning to the twin with his offer to join the Illuminati, and the rest of the exwires made it to the roof to witness it. Their cries of dismay at the betrayal they should have seen coming only made Amaimon scowl at the naivete.

When the twin pulled his guns on Rin, Amaimon almost snapped and destroyed him, damn Mephisto's plans anyway.

His claws dug into the concrete of the building beneath them, gauging crumbling rents into it when Rin went down, three shots to his head, his throat, and his heart.

That that creature would even dare-

Amaimon forced his fangs back, taking a calming breath through his nose and drew his claws out of the concrete with a final frustrated growl.

But Shiemi was moving to run to Rin and Amaimon wouldn't let the girl get in the way. He didn't trust the damn twin not to shoot her, too, and Rin might never forgive him if he let his good friend get hurt when he could have stopped it.

He jumped down, reaching out to grab her shoulder and making her cry out in surprise.

"Hey, what gives?" Bon shouted at him.

Amaimon kept a steady grip on Shiemi as she looked up at him with tears in her eyes.

"But why?"

"You can't stop them now," Amaimon tried to put as gently as he knew how, "nothing can stop this now."

It was just in time to see Rin rise again, blue flames surrounding him as the attack triggered his instincts and he released his heart from its scabbard to bring down on his twin.

That damn spy turned his own black flame attack on Rin, only to miss pitifully, prompting Rin, in his enraged state, to tackle the fool and deliver a punishing blow that knocked him back into the wall behind him.

That left him free to turn back to his real target.

Rin broke his heart against the twin flames in his brother's eyes, the pieces shattering to the ground around him.

Excitement and dread speared through Amaimon's chest as a new presence entered the field.

Satan, their Father was here.

He felt Shiemi tremble in his hold and instinctively pulled her behind him, unable to take his attention away from where Father's voice came from, drawn to the power unlike any he'd ever felt before.

Except for Rin's.

Father spoke to the brothers, and Amaimon caught the words but they passed through his mind in a hazy buzz of energy that had him swaying, hypnotized, as a wide grin pulled itself across his face.

Such unbelievable power.

"Please, you have to stop them!"

Amaimon shook his head free of the effect, turning to see Shiemi had brought her hands to his arm as she pled with him.

A chorus of angry agreements came from the other humans but Amaimon didn't pay them any attention, looking into Shiemi's eyes as the smile fell from his face.

"I. Can't."

"Bullshit, you can't!"

Amaimon snapped a glare to Bon at his accusation.

He didn't have time to put the human in his place as their focus was turned back to the twins.

That spy was prodded awake and the human twin turned to leave with him, Rin fallen to the ground before them and watching, helpless, as he was given one last word from his traitor of a brother to be left without a backwards glance as they disappeared into the copter.

Lucifer's power echoed again and left, only the noise of the wind whipping around where its blades had been was left to fill the deafening silence.

"Rin!"

The humans darted around Amaimon, and at Shiemi's insistent tugs, he released her, too.

"Stay back!"

Amaimon's eyes widened at the cry from Rin and he vanished to appear in front of the stupid humans, arms thrown wide to halt their advance towards the demon.

"Get out of our way!" Bon had the nerve to shout at him, fury in his eyes, "how could you just sit there while Yukio did that to Rin? What kind of shitty boyfriend are you?"

Then Rin groaned, collapsing to the ground behind him before his body snapped upwards again, back arched, pulled taut like he was being electrocuted as his flames consumed him.

Amaimon didn't turn to look, narrowing his eyes at the stubborn humans just sitting there, watching the dangerous flames.

"His demonic heart was sealed in that sword," Amaimon hissed, jerking his head to where the broken pieces littered the ground, "when it broke the rest of his flames returned from Gehenna to his body."

He watched his words register with them, horror eating at their expressions as they watched Rin's body begin to blacken and smolder at the intense flames consuming them.

"What's going to happen to him?" Konekomaru whimpered.

"If his body can't take the perfect flame," Amaimon finally turned to see Rin looked more like a burning corpse than anything alive and his face shuttered at his next words, "he'll die."

"What?" Bon breathed out, rearing back at that, before spitting out, enraged, "this is your fault! You let this happen to him, you bastard!"

Amaimon's eyes contracted, snarl erupting on his face.

How dare-

He leapt away, retreating to a tower nearby.

Any further interaction with the human would only make him react and if that happened he'd more than likely kill him- and Rin, if he survived, really would never forgive him, then.

Amaimon watched the flames dwindle until they disappeared, Rin's body a charred husk falling to the ground and felt like maybe his own heart might join it there.

He rubbed at his chest, not understanding the unusual feeling twisting in it that he'd never experienced before and not liking the sensation in the slightest.

Shiemi approached the fallen form, kneeling down and getting the soot laying around it on her coat.

And then…

Rin's heart, surrounded by his blue flames and the most beautiful thing Amaimon had ever witnessed in all the countless years of his existence, appeared to hover over Rin's body.

He was alive.

Amaimon had a moment to enjoy the revelation, watching the chunks of charcoal fall away to let new skin show through, burnt away by the fire until Rin was left whole and untouched.

Alive.

The young demon's hair had gone white, his eyes, when he opened them, were the dangerous warped form Amaimon had only seen when the other was fully demonic.

The sight of them had Amaimon's hackles rising, wary as he realized something wasn't right.

The foolish humans crept closer and Amaimon felt fear enter his heart.

He couldn't react in time.

Rin exploded, blue flames rising in a wide pillar around him to disappear into the clouds above until Amaimon lost sight of them.

The humans were surely dead, Amaimon turned his eyes down from the spire to search for the remains of Rin's friends, dreading what he'd find and how he was going to explain himself to Rin when he came back from this.

Shock struck him.

A wall of trees, fully grown into a forest had appeared between Rin and his humans.

And Shiemi had created it.

She was…

If that was true…

There was nothing he could do about it then.

Rin was advancing on his friends.

Amaimon wouldn't let him.

He leapt down, dropping into the path of the inferno, just hearing the surprised cries of the humans behind the wall of trees as they saw him come between the two.

He couldn't pay them any attention even if he'd wanted to.

Rin was watching him and Amaimon was caught in his gaze.

"Amaimon! I'm so happy to see you!"

That statement, delivered the way it was, made Amaimon shiver in terror, motionless where he stood like prey before a predator as Rin smiled at him.

The face that usually stared at him with such adoration was a façade now, and Amaimon could only watch as it twisted, the sinister being beneath it rising to the surface.

"Play with me, Amaimon."

That wasn't a request.

Amaimon took off, heart pounding an erratic rhythm against his ribs as he heard the demon follow after.

It was a cruel mimicry of the day they'd stormed Lucifer's labs. When he'd been so sure Rin would punish him for his betrayal.

That was nothing compared to now, with Rin calling out behind him to stop, come back.

Play with him.

He'd felt shades of fear then, at the lab, soothed over when Rin had finally caught him, and he realized the other hadn't wanted to punish him at all.

Except this time Amaimon was sure he didn't want Rin to catch him. He didn't think he would survive the encounter.

The cat and mouse game pushed Amaimon to his limits, breath coming in harsh gasps out of his exhausted lungs, body screaming at the force he put into it. He was getting tired.

He could feel Rin getting closer.

His demonic features had come out, control failing him as fear bit at his heels, urging him ever faster to escape the creature in his shadow.

Amaimon made it to an abandoned construction site, leaping and dodging through the holes in the building, not knowing how close Rin was anymore as he came out into the empty courtyard in the middle and looked around for an escape.

Fire drove him down to the ground and he screamed.

"Caught you, Amaimon!"

Amaimon couldn't respond, mouth open in a choked cry.

Rin had a hand around his neck, pressing in with unhurried pressure until Amaimon gagged, feeling his throat creak as it threatened to crush under the force.

"Let's play, now, Amaimon."

Amaimon's vision had black spots in it, but he could see the sadistic delight in Rin's warped pupils.

Rin released his throat and Amaimon retched out heaving breaths, body trying to heal the damage done to it.

He froze as Rin dropped his head to his neck, shuddering in an absolute panic under the demon.

"Mmm, you smell like fear, Amaimon," Rin looked up at him, long tongue coming out to lick at his lips, "you smell like mine."

Rin laid his palm flat over Amaimon heart, smiling that false smile again.

Amaimon screamed, smelling sizzling meat and not understanding why until he realized it was his body that was burning under Rin's gentle touch.

His voice gave out before Rin decided to stop.

He thought he'd blacked out for a bit before he was shaken awake, blinking bleary eyes wet with tears that sizzled and evaporated in the intense heat Rin was giving off when they tried to track down his cheeks.

He found his head tugged up by his hair as Rin made him look down his chest to see what had been done to him.

"I hope that doesn't heal, Amaimon," Rin said against his ear, "I want everyone to know you're mine."

A blackened patch of oozing flesh in the shape of Rin's hand laid over his chest. He could see the white of his bone poking out where the flames had melted straight through the muscle.

"You don't look like you're having fun, Amaimon."

Amaimon flinched violently, trying to jerk back in Rin's hold and finding he couldn't, hair held tight enough that he felt strands rip themselves out of his head at his frantic movements.

"What's the matter, Amaimon?" Rin cocked his head when he heard his cries of agony, "I thought you liked pain?"

Amaimon found himself flipped onto his stomach, gravel biting into his open wound and bringing another torn scream to his lips as his writhed on the ground.

A flare of blue flames and his clothes were burned off his body, the fire scalding his skin until it was boiled with third-degree burns and Amaimon froze at the sheer agony roasting his nerve endings away, uncontrollably shaking and eyes unseeing, unable to even scream, as he waited for Rin's next move.

"I wonder, If I pull off your tail, will it grow back like a lizard's?"

Amaimon let out a moan of pure terror, renewing his struggles to escape.

A hand grabbed his hip and the searing fire was back where his skin had been trying to heal. Amaimon shrieked, eyes rolling in his head as he was reduced to an animal pain.

He collapsed.

Everything went black.

* * *

"Oh, Rin."

The sounds of Amaimon's screams had tapered off.

"What have you done?"

Mephisto stared down, feeling something almost like regret. He'd never once in his long life and all his years of lying, manipulating, and killing without remorse, experienced such a thing and he didn't know what to do about it now.

Amaimon had fallen comatose under Rin, the poor creature unable to handle the torture his body had just been through.

His words had attracted the newly awakened demon's attention away from his unmoving prey.

The smile that was turned up at him was cruel and so unlike Rin's usual bright expressions that Mephisto wanted to claw it off his face.

"Mephisto," that false voice crooned, turning away from where he'd been pressing at the burned mark he'd left on Amaimon's hip to crouch before Mephisto, tail lashing behind him in a sinuous wave of blue flames.

"Amaimon won't play with me, Mephisto," the demon pouted, though his lips twitched, smile threatening to return, "make him play with me."

Mephisto just shook his head, voice soft, "no, Rin. Amaimon will not be playing with you tonight."

That brought a twisted scowl to the demon's face at having been denied.

It disappeared just as fast, as capricious as the wind.

"Will you play with me, Mephisto?"

The demon crouched lower to the ground, getting ready to pounce as the flames of his pupils moved in slow patterns, hypnotic in their effect as if trying to lure Mephisto into a false sense of security.

"No, Rin," Mephisto said again.

The demon toppled playfully to his side on the ground, rolling to expose his belly to Mephisto.

Were he a lesser demon the display would have drawn him in immediately.

Which is what the little beast wanted.

When he didn't move in for the bait, the demon upped the ante.

"Mephisto," the voice crooned again, "I want you. You're mine, aren't you?"

The demon's hips raised, back arching off the ground and neck stretching to reveal the pale column of his throat as his arms extended towards Mephisto to beckon him down into the deadly embrace.

"Let me have you, Mephisto," the demon moaned, stomach stretching in a play of muscles that begged to be touched, "I want to reach into your ribcage and eat your heart. Let me?"

Mephisto almost shuddered at the possessiveness, realizing with a sudden clarity what a true horror Rin was as a demon. This couldn't be allowed to go on. He had to bring him back.

"Rin."

The focus in those eyes when he said the demon's name, the stillness that overcame the demon's body as he prepared to attack, Mephisto ignored both.

"Look at what you have done to Amaimon, Rin. Amaimon, who is yours. You once told us that you didn't like hurting others, that you didn't know how. Look and see how you've left him."

The demon's eyes were drawn back to where Amaimon lay, uncaring apathy in his eyes as he surveyed the earth king's broken body.

Mephisto almost thought his words had failed when the demon just quirked a vicious smile down at the evidence of his work.

The demon brought his eyes back up to Mephisto and opened his mouth to respond.

His breath choked off, eyes widening as an internal battle raged behind them.

His mouth gaped open, half snarl, half gasp, until something changed behind Rin's eyes and he blinked them in rapid flutters.

There he was.

"Mephisto?"

Rin looked at him without comprehension, total trust in those bright blue eyes that Mephisto wanted to flee to avoid.

Then Rin turned back to look at Amaimon and a long keen left his throat, the sound echoing through the hollow tomb of the construction site as Rin realized what he'd done.

"Amaimon!"

Mephisto felt his lips curl down at the devastated wail coming from Rin that grated against his ears, finding he didn't like the sound of it at all.

He didn't get a chance to do anything about it as it cut off, Rin collapsing in an exhausted heap to the ground and his flames guttering out until it was just his beautiful heart floating above his chest left to light the area.

Mephisto sighed, a long breath that trailed into the cold air, closing his eyes.

He turned to Belial. The demon arriving behind him to stand back, awaiting his orders.

"Bring them," Mephisto waved his hand, "We'll return to the mansion."

"Yes sir."

Mephisto didn't look back again, snapping his fingers and depositing the group into his room.

Belial carried Amaimon to the bed first, laying the earth king over the canvas sheet he'd put out to prevent the demon's blood and fluids from his still healing burns from staining Mephisto's nice duvet.

Rin was next, set under the covers, body whole and unscarred from his awakening.

"Leave us."

And Mephisto was alone.

He gave one last long look at the bodies in his bed before turning to head out to the balcony.

* * *

Rin woke slowly, the comforting scents of Mephisto's room surrounding him. He snuggled further back into the warm covers, content to stay there, cocooned in a sense of safety and protection, for as long as he could.

He could smell Amaimon there, too.

But…

Something was wrong.

Rin felt his nose twitch.

It wasn't just Amaimon he was smelling, but Amaimon's blood.

Lots of it.

Rin forced himself to wake up, blinking bleary eyes as he tried to search out why he was smelling so much blood.

He turned his head on the pillow to where he could feel Amaimon's presence in his mind.

Everything came back to him in a rush.

The earth's king's sleeping face stared back at him, skin cleared of the burns that had been inflicted on it, demonic healing having done away with the damage in the time they'd been out for.

There was still a faint hint of the palm shaped burn on Amaimon's chest where Rin had placed it with such gentleness while the demon had screamed.

The bloodstained canvas Amaimon was resting on was the source of the alarming scent of the demon's blood that had woken Rin up.

Panicked breaths began stuttering out of Rin's throat at the sight, little hiccups bubbling out until he was crying, shaking against the bed.

He couldn't move.

He wanted to run. He wanted to reach out to Amaimon and take him in his arms and never let him go.

He couldn't, afraid of what he'd done to the demon and afraid of what might happen if he touched him again.

Amaimon's brows furrowed and Rin realized his cries had woken him up.

He tried to stifle the sounds, not wanting to see the fear he remembered causing in the other. The fear he'd delighted in, the possessive need to create it in the earth king the only thing he'd been able to focus on.

He'd loved the power he'd held over Amaimon.

But he couldn't stop his sobs at that point, the effort only making him cry louder. Messy tears soaked the pillow beneath his face and ran down his heated skin in wet trails until his head was throbbing and his throat was sore.

He curled into a fetal position, hiding his eyes against his knees to avoid witnessing Amaimon once he'd fully woken.

A clawed hand pressed into his hair, carding through it in soft movements as Rin froze, cries breaking off at the unexpected touch.

"Why are you crying?"

The question broke Rin's heart and he felt another sob tear its way out of his throat.

"Rin."

"I hurt you!" Rin gasped out, curling further into a tight ball and trembling there, wishing he could disappear.

"You did."

The confirmation had Rin heaving, ribs aching at the pain, as he felt sick with himself.

Amaimon moved to gather him into his arms, the demon enveloping him in an embrace and a purr rising out in a calming measure.

"Why did I do that? I hurt you and I liked it. Why did I hurt you?" Rin breathed, unable to understand what had happened to make him attack Amaimon like that.

"We did that to you, Rin. It wasn't your fault."

Rin jolted in Amaimon's arms, flinching away from the demon as if he'd discovered he'd hurt him all over again.

He fell back, moving to the edge of the bed to stare at Amaimon in horror.

"What?"

Amaimon watched from where he'd left him, blank-faced and chest healed of the remainders of the burn mark.

Rin felt like he could still see the imprint there, a permanent stain in his mind.

"We knew your brother was going to abandon you."

Rin flinched again at the reminder, a hurt whimper leaving his throat because he'd lost his twin and he still didn't know why.

"We knew about the flames of Father in his eyes. And that if you struck with your heart, as you did, the force would shatter the sword containing it and you'd awaken fully."

The last nail in the coffin came down.

"We knew it might kill you."

Rin could feel tears running down his face at the revelation, wounded sounds leaving his lips as he looked up at Amaimon with wide eyes.

"Why?"

The broken question was the only thing he could think of to respond with and Rin searched Amaimon's empty expression for any hint of a reason.

"Because it's part of Samael's plan, and we're all just pieces moving on his board."

Rin felt his teeth clench in sharp, sudden pain against the harsh sob that wanted to escape, a choked sound coming out instead. And he found himself curling up again.

His hand was at his chest, claws gauging into the skin there to try to rip out his heart, the physical ache better than the emotional one slicing through him.

He'd worked his claws in up to the first knuckle, eye's glazed at the pain of it and feeling saliva running down his chin, making no effort to swallow as he panted in agony.

"Stop it! What are you doing?"

His claws were yanked from his chest, blood following them in spurts and he realized he may have hit something vital in a human body.

He was gathered back into Amaimon's arms, the demon leaning down to clear the blood with his tongue before it could reach the sheets, staining the demon's skin when he gave up and clutched him to his chest until his healing could kick in.

"Why do you always hurt yourself?" Amaimon growled out, "I told you it wasn't your fault. You should be hurting us for betraying and deceiving you. Not yourself!"

Rin just moaned into the demon's collar, the words only making him feel worse.

"I can't," Rin gasped out, gripping at Amaimon's arms and shaking, "I can't hurt you again, please don't make me."

Amaimon reared back, though he didn't let Rin go, lips trembling and pupils slivering as if Rin were scaring him. Rin whimpered at the thought.

"You stupid, impossible demon," Amaimon hissed, "we deserve it! We deserve your rage and anger and your retribution for what we've done! Not your tears!"

Rin was hyperventilating against him and Amaimon let out a wretched groan at the sight, pulling him into a tighter hold as if to keep him from quaking apart.

He'd had enough of Amaimon's pain.

Something seemed to shift in Rin.

Then he stopped shaking, breath coming out in a long exhale that had Amaimon freezing against him.

He looked up at the demon, seeing the apprehension in his eyes and frowned.

When he spoke, he made sure his voice was firm, locking his gaze on Amaimon's and not letting the other escape it.

"I won't."

"What?"

Rin put his hand over the Amaimon's heart where he'd burned it, feeling the flinch run through the demon and hating that he'd been the cause of it.

"I won't hurt you."

It was Amaimon's turn to suffer panicked breaths, staring at him like he was incomprehensible.

Rin brought his arms up around the shaking demon, tucking his head into the other's neck until he felt them abate.

Amaimon returned the embrace, hesitation in his slow movements as if he didn't know whether it was a trick or not.

Rin gave him the time he needed.

"I told you already," Rin began when he thought the demon had calmed enough, "if you're angry at me, we'll talk it out. If I'm angry at you, we'll talk it out. Just don't run from me and I won't run from you."

Amaimon let out a desperate sound into his shoulder and Rin just let his mouth curve into a sad smile, rubbing the demon's back until he got through it.

"Are we good?" Rin ran his fingers in soothing circles on the vertebrae at Amaimon's neck, tracing his way over each knob of his spine to ease the tension stringing through them.

A nod came from the demon and a firm kiss was mouthed into his jaw instead of words, telling Rin all he needed to know.

Rin pulled back, smiling at Amaimon's helpless expression, leaning forward to press his own kiss to the demon's mouth before pulling away.

"I'm going to go talk to Mephisto now, okay?"

Amaimon could only nod again, words failing him as he watched Rin get up and leave the bed, to head out to the veranda where he sensed the demon king was hiding.

After grabbing a striped robe that had been laid out on the chair next to the bed, Rin stepped out through the open glass doors, finding Mephisto leaning against the stone railing overlooking the city.

In the dark of the night sky it was easy to see the small fires that had erupted throughout the area, sirens wailing in the distance as the chaos of the Gehenna Gate opening and people's exposure to demonic presences increased with every moment.

Mephisto was bundled in his own robe. The thick black material would be making his bruised eyes seem darker in the night, Rin knew, if he'd just turn to face him. The demon had his usual pink polka-dotted scarf wrapped around his neck and Rin realized he must be cold.

It was strange. Where before his body had still reacted to the cold in some ways, now Rin didn't feel it at all, even with the bitter winter winds teasing his hair and blowing through the thin fabric of his robe.

"Mephisto."

He watched the demon's careful non-reaction to his name.

"The broken pieces of the Koma sword are in an appropriate place and your friends are all safe."

Rin smiled at the avoidance of the real issue. It wasn't just Amaimon who was allergic to his feelings, it seemed. Or maybe Mephisto just didn't want to face the consequences of his actions.

"I knew you'd take care of that," Rin offered him anyway, allowing the deflection.

Mephisto turned, propping his head on his hand with his elbow resting on the railing to finally look at Rin, though he didn't betray any of his thoughts on his face. The demon's eyes were as bruised as Rin had suspected they'd be. Mephisto looked exhausted.

Rin's eyes slid to the bandage still on his forehead.

"Are you okay now that you released the gate?"

That prompted a slight widening of the demon's eyes and Mephisto reached up with the tips of his claws to peel the bandage off, revealing pale, un-injured skin there.

"Good."

Mephisto quirked a frown at him, letting the bandage float away in the wind, "I'm still healing. This body is not quite recovered yet."

Rin nodded, content with that knowledge. As long as the other wasn't degrading like he had been anymore.

"You… have spoken with Amaimon, yes?" Green eyes narrowed, flickering to look into the room behind Rin where he'd left Amaimon in the bed.

"You mean you didn't hear all that?" Rin smiled, teasing, until Mephisto's peeved expression made him let out a soft laugh, shaking his head.

"We talked, yeah," Rin said, voice wry.

"I see."

Rin felt his lip tug up at Mephisto's caginess.

"You let me hurt him, Mephisto," Rin cut to the chase, moving on from letting the elder demon stew.

The demon king leant back against the railing, as if to prop himself up for the beating he was about to take. Rin wanted to smirk at him but, also, he figured Mephisto deserved what was coming so he let him suffer a bit longer.

"I wanted to hurt you, too, you know," Rin added, eyeing his black claws, which, that was weird, he'd never had those before, even when they'd come out in his previous berserk modes. Something to consider later, but, "I'm glad you didn't come over to me when I called you. I wasn't planning anything nice."

He saw the demon's pupils sliver, wondering if it was a pulse of fear or something else his words had created to cause the reaction. You could never tell with demons, the weirdest things turned them on.

"You could have stopped me at any time," he continued when Mephisto didn't respond, "you could have even told me what would happen if the sword broke. Though I get the feeling you were waiting for it to break, probably even at that exact moment against Yukio."

"Everything you've said is true," Mephisto admitted, cocking his head at him, "have I hurt you enough, yet? Is this the final straw? Where are your limits when it comes to how much abuse you will take from me before you break like your sword?"

"Hah!" Rin laughed, harder, even, when Mephisto glared at his response, not understanding where the humor was coming from.

"It's like you told Amaimon at the festival, Mephisto," Rin let a giggle leave his lips at having to tell the demon something that seemed so simple to him, "you said you could never have anticipated the way these events would play out when you set things in motion all those years ago."

Rin smiled further at the demon's confusion, "you're trapped in your own schemes just as much as we are. I think you might be hurting yourself more than anything else at this point, actually."

"Ah, that is-"

Mephisto blinked at him, mouth dropping open in his surprise, "I don't know how you remember these throwaway comments we make to keep bringing them back to bite us when we least except it. That you're not doing better in your classes is astounding."

"My classes aren't important," Rin shrugged, "you and Amaimon are important."

Was that a blush on Mephisto's face? Rin hid another laugh. He'd have to compliment the two surely demons more often if he'd always get such fun reactions from them like that.

"And after all the money I've put into your education," Mephisto grumbled, bringing a hand up to hide his face. Rin could see a glint of green where the demon king was still eyeing him from between the cracks in his fingers.

Time to end it, then, Rin was getting tired of having the two demons be afraid of him.

"You know, this whole awakening as a full demon has some pretty nice perks I can think of right off the top of my head," Rin murmured, letting his lids drop, expression sly as he grinned at the suddenly wary Mephisto.

"I can see my claim on you now."

Mephisto froze, hand still over his face as he took in Rin's meaning.

When the demon's hand dropped Rin could see his words had had their intended effect.

"Can you, now."

"Yep," Rin drew the answer out, running his gaze up and down the other's body in a deliberate move, "I had no idea for the longest time what you guys were talking about. I thought it was a scent thing and I was really pissed I couldn't sense it."

He heard a rumble building up from the other's demon's chest.

"I haven't told Amaimon about that yet," Rin added, scratching at his cheek, head upturned in mock consideration, "I think I'm gonna go back to him now and let him know."

He turned to leave and found himself pulled into a rough kiss that had his bare toes curling into the tiles beneath them.

Rin smiled into the kiss, pulling Mephisto closer to him and digging his fingers into the demon's wind-chilled hair.

"You look cold, Mephisto," Rin said, then gasped as his throat was attacked next, pressing his body up along the taller demon's and shoving his perpetually warmed hands beneath the black robe to drag over the bare skin there, "I don't wanna be cheesy, but I think I know a way to fix that."

Mephisto groaned into his neck, dropping his head to his shoulder, "you're terrible. I've never been so tormented in my life until I met you."

"Even with Amaimon?" Rin laughed, pulling away and darting over towards the room grinning back at Mephisto's disgruntled face and twitching hands at finding him gone from them.

"Yes," the demon king glared, "even with Amaimon. Congratulations. He's had over a thousand more years to perfect the art."

"I'm an innovator," Rin responded, hand on the glass door.

That was when he turned and saw his reflection in the glass and blinked, peering closer in utter confusion.

"What the hell?" Rin yelped, tugging at his hair that had somehow turned white since he'd last seen it, "is that me?"

And were those horns on his head?

Mephisto had made it over to him while he'd been distracted by poking and prodding himself.

"Just noticed, have you?"

Rin saw the wavy smirk in the reflective surface and pulled his finger out of the corner of his mouth where he'd been examining his fangs.

It was his turn to blush as Mephisto wrapped his arms around him and slid his hands into the open front of his robe, all mirrored back at him from the glass.

Still, "I think my tongue is longer, too. Look!"

Rin let his mouth fall open, watching Mephisto's eyes in the glass as his tongue lolled out between his fangs. Yep. Definitely longer.

There was a black clawed finger pressing into his mouth a moment later and Rin let his tongue curl around the digit to draw it in, eyes never leaving Mephisto's.

The possessiveness there had Rin shivering despite no longer having the ability to feel cold.

He sucked at the finger, licking the pad of it with the now tapered point of his tongue before drawing back to release it with a wet sound.

The other hand at his hips squeezed and Rin felt claws needle into the skin there.

"You've listed out everything but the most obvious change, Rin" Mephisto hummed, hips rubbing against his from behind.

"What?" Rin asked, a little breathless at the teasing movements.

"Your beautiful demon heart is out."

Rin looked down at his chest, the glowing blue flames of his heart floating there.

"Yeah, I don't-" Rin furrowed his brows, "I don't actually know how to put that away yet."

Mephisto inhaled into his hair, another rumbling growl coming from him, "I'll help you with that later. Let's keep it out, for now."

"Okay," Rin stuttered, not quite understanding why it seemed to entrance the elder demon so much, but he'd work with it anyway.

He felt Mephisto's growing interest and poked a claw into the arm at his chest, "hey, if anyone is getting rewarded tonight it's Amaimon. He's the one that keeps getting beat up."

Mephisto glowered at him from over his head and Rin smirked, "actually. I think we both deserve something nice from you."

So saying, Rin reached behind him into Mephisto's robe to find the base of his tail and tugged, hearing the ragged moan that came out of the demon's mouth as he let him go in surprise.

Rin bolted back inside, making a flying leap for the bed and startling Amaimon badly, the earth king hissing like a scalded cat from beneath the covers he'd been hiding under, bloody canvas already disappeared from sight.

"Amaimon!" Rin knelt on the bed, smiling at the gasping demon staring at him with wide eyes, "I've got horns now. And my hair is white. This is so weird!"

"Also, I just tugged Mephisto's tail and left him outside, so I don't know how happy he is right now," Rin added with a guileless look, dropping down onto his stomach with his chin in his palms and letting his tail wag behind him under his robe so just the tip of it peaked out by his feet.

Amaimon whimpered up at him and Rin grinned as he felt the presence of the other demon king looming over them behind his back.

He reached forwards to grab Amaimon's hand where it curled into the blanket by his chin, bringing it towards his lips and pressing a kiss to the earth king's knuckles.

"I told Mephisto," Rin said, letting his breath ghost over the demon's trapped fingers, "I can sense my claim on you now."

A hand stopped his tail from its slow motions and Rin smiled from under his bangs, keeping his eyes locked onto Amaimon's as his robe was pushed up along his legs to pool at his lower back, the bed sinking with another body.

"Rin has suggested that I owe the two of you an apology, Amaimon," Mephisto breathed into Rin's ear, body a heavy weight over him and thumb rubbing at the tip of Rin's now white-furred tail.

Rin took a moment to enjoy the pleasure tingling though the furred length, tilting his head to press his lips to Mephisto's jaw and still holding Amaimon's gaze out of the corner of his eyes.

"I think," Rin hummed, bringing his attention to where he was turning Amaimon's hand in his, "that it's Mephisto's turn to be tied up and at our mercy. Right, Amaimon?"

Amaimon had stopped breathing, pupils lost in the gold of his irises at this point, and Rin was afraid he'd broken the poor demon.

He knew how to fix him.

"Mephisto," Rin began, his voice a light command, "I want you to lay back against the pillows for me, 'kay?"

Mephisto slid away from his body, letting his tail go with one last long pull over it that Rin melted into, purr coming from his chest and grip tightening over Amaimon's hand.

He waited for the demon king to settle before sitting back onto his knees, robe falling into place around him and releasing Amaimon with a long, teasing smile.

Rin shifted to face Mephisto, enjoying the sight of the elder demon sprawled over his own covers, purple hair fanned out on the pillow under his head and an answering smile on his face.

He moved to straddle the demon's hips, leaning down to caress his lips in a slow slide of his mouth, one hand dropping to Mephisto's waist to knead there and the other rising to his neck.

When he sat up, it was to see a light flush across Mephisto's sharp cheekbones and to reveal he'd stolen the pink silk scarf from the demon's neck.

"Raise your hands above your head, Mephisto," Rin said, bringing the scarf to his nose and inhaling the scent there, eyes half-mast as he watched Mephisto move to obey.

Amaimon chose that moment to reboot, poking his head up out of the covers with a disgruntled pout on his face.

"Joining us, Amaimon?" Rin cocked a smile at the earth king.

"Yes," Amaimon grunted, dropping his chin to Rin's shoulder and trailing his black-clawed hands down his chest to pluck at the tie at his robe.

"Why are you still dressed?" Amaimon asked, voice a complaint as he undid the tie, tugging it off and tossing it aside to let Rin's robe fall open.

"Ah," Rin glanced down at Mephisto, "because he's still got his clothes on."

Mephisto frowned at that, eyes flicking down his body, "I'm still not healed, Rin. You may not want to see what's under here."

Rin tilted his head, reaching to touch the black tie holding Mephisto's robe closed.

"Don't think I haven't noticed you hiding under your clothes or in the dark the past few times," Rin narrowed his eyes when Mephisto averted his gaze, "actually, I think you've been trying to hide yourself ever since the festival. The last time I saw you was in your office when I traded you for the information."

Mephisto's face just tightened at the observation.

"You're vain, Mephisto. Has anyone ever told you that?" Rin teased, slowly undoing the knot and parting the robe to reveal the demon's body to him.

The signs of degradation had spread since Rin had last seen them on the demon's couch. Now, instead of just being at his left shoulder, they traveled down his sides, one patch going over his hip to end at his thigh.

And the sickly-sweet scent of rot hit Rin's nose, then, freed from the confines of the robe to the open air. He had a strong suspicion that if he hadn't been a demon with their peculiar sense of smell, he would be gagging.

Once again, luckily, he was a demon, Rin decided, instead letting the point of his claw press just beneath the demon's bellybutton at the start of the trail of hair there between the coils of the demon's tail.

Amaimon snickered at Mephisto's irritated growl, "he's right. You are vain."

Mephisto made to sit up, probably to teach Amaimon a lesson in manners, but Rin stopped him with a hand on his chest, pressing down and leaning over.

"Hands above your head, Mephisto," he whispered into the demon's pointed ear as he intertwined their hands together, raising them until they were where he wanted them.

Rin bit at the tip of the ear as a sharp reminder not to move. He ignored Mephisto's heated gaze to bring his attention to where he'd trapped his hands with the silk scarf.

A moment later he neatened the poofy bow he'd made of the scarf with a discerning eye, surveying his work with satisfaction.

"I don't know how many of those you have, because I see you use them on like, everything you own," Rin remarked, arms crossed as he looked down at the demon, "but you're not allowed to move from this position or break that, no matter what. Got it?"

"Mmm, as you wish, Rin," Mephisto hummed, arching his hips to rub up against Rin's in a slow roll.

Rin grinned at his assent and ground his hips down over the other's, sparks lighting through his nerves at the friction.

"You know," Rin gasped as Amaimon bit at his neck and Mephisto surged against him, "it's too bad Christmas is over, I like having you wrapped up like a present."

"The bow is a nice touch," Amaimon agreed, gold eyes glinting.

"Next year I'm tying one of you up in a big red bow and leaving you for the other to find," Rin determined, "no idea who yet, but I'll just have to see who's earned it most."

"Actually," Rin reached behind him to grab Amaimon's hips and press them harder to his, feeling the demon's length slide alongside him and gasping as heat started to build up in earnest, "you should thank Shiemi for this idea. But I've decided to celebrate your new birthdays and our anniversary on the day of the festival so that means two times a year I get to unwrap someone."

"I love the way your mind works, Rin," Mephisto said, breath hitching in his chest as his Rin smiled down at him and dragged out one more slow movement of his hips over the demon's that had both of them shuddering before he got off and sat to the side, though Amaimon let out a sound of protest at the loss of contact.

"Amaimon, this is his apology to you, remember?" Rin prodded, sliding his hand up Mephisto's arm where he sat next to him.

"You're right, I forgot," Amaimon's lips curled over his fangs in a wide smile as he poked his clawed fingers at the other demon king's hips, tugging him into a better position.

Instead of pushing into Mephisto immediately, Amaimon brought his tail around, watching the way Rin and Mephisto tracked it when he let it glide up along Mephisto's leg, just tracing the sensitive skin of his inner thigh.

Mephisto's pupils were wide in his irises, unable to see when Amaimon let his tail dip down to press at his entrance but shuddering when it teased there.

Amaimon spread Mephisto's long legs apart to get better access, keeping his eyes on the other's as he toyed with him, rubbing but not breaching and letting the anticipation build until Mephisto looked ready to kill.

"Amaimon," Mephisto growled, body twitching at the effort of holding still and hands clenching at the scarf.

"You've done way worse to us, Mephisto," Rin murmured at his ear, tracing a claw at the demon's throat and feeling the vibrations there, "I don't know if I've told you, but turnabout's fair play."

In the distraction Rin had caused, Amaimon plunged his tail into Mephisto, twin moans coming from the demon kings while Rin just smiled into Mephisto's hair and watched the expression on Amaimon's face.

Amaimon once again decided to torment Mephisto, tail moving slowly enough that Mephisto couldn't adjust, demonic healing kicking in and making sure the tightness remained the same.

Mephisto was trembling, hips trying to push up into the tail but unable to as Amaimon raised it back, gold eyes molten with the heat of them as he watched his victim get more and more desperate beneath him.

Rin ran his fangs down the delicate skin of Mephisto's arm, watching the play of muscle there as the demon king fought to keep them pressed to the pillow and not around Amaimon's throat.

It wasn't enough- for either of them, and Amaimon wasn't known for his patience. Rin could see the moment the earth king was done with the teasing.

But instead of pulling his tail out, Amaimon hiked Mephisto's legs up and shoved in right alongside it, letting out a hiss at the tightness as Mephisto gave a loud groan at the sudden force, head dropping back to the pillow as his eyes squeezed shut.

Rin shivered at the sight of the two, feeling his pulse pick up when Amaimon began thrusting into Mephisto, nearly pressing him in half with his hands tight around the captured thighs, digging red lines into the skin.

Mephisto growled at the pain, fangs lengthening in his mouth and chest heaving as he fought against moving like he wanted to.

Rin saw all this, the way Amaimon's eyes seemed to glow in their intensity, the way Mephisto lost control of his appearance, long ears wedged into the pillows, tail locked in a quivering loop around his waist, each slam of the earth king's hips rubbing his hardened length against the coils.

And he waited.

Amaimon released into Mephisto with a snarl, turning his head to lap at the trails of blood he'd drawn down the other demon's thighs around gasping breaths before sinking his teeth into the tender skin there, drawing a twin snarl of pain from Mephisto, who'd almost lunged to attack the other for it.

Rin pressed him back with a hand on his chest, rubbing a clawed thumb over the thudding heartbeat.

"It's my turn for my apology, I think," Rin said as Amaimon pulled back, letting Mephisto uncurl from the uncomfortable position he'd been in.

Amaimon tried to control his panting, drawing in a long breath as he looked into Rin's eyes, and then froze.

"Your eyes are warping, Rin," the earth king said, face shuttering as if wary again.

"I know."

Rin watched the shiver go through Amaimon at his acknowledgment, feeling another under his hand from Mephisto, too.

"I can feel the change now," Rin added, bringing his body out of where he'd been laying over Mephisto to move to Amaimon's side with leonine grace, pressing a fang-filled kiss to the rapid pulse of the demon's neck.

"It's my turn, Amaimon," Rin breathed into the wet patch he'd laved against the earth king's throat, hand reaching down to splay over Mephisto's thigh next to his entrance, Amaimon still inside him.

Mephisto was still hard, intermittent tremors running through his frame as Amaimon slid out with a hiss, allowing Rin to take his place.

But, despite the anticipation of Mephisto's expression, the demon canting his hips to give Rin better access, Rin just bowed forward over his knees until he had his cheek resting on the trembling muscle of the demon king's thigh.

Mephisto's eyes widened, pupils slivering as Rin opened his mouth to expose dangerous, needle sharp fangs within inches of the delicate skin there in a silent warning not to move.

He let out a shuddering breath when Rin let his tongue out to wind around the base of his length.

Rin brought his hand up to grasp the top of the length, keeping it in place while he ran light licks of his tongue to the root, pulling back a bit to suck a bruise into the skin next to his thigh as Mephisto tried to get more pressure and was unable to with a frustrated sound that was music to Rin's ears.

"Keep your hands there, Mephisto," Rin murmured a reminder, breath ghosting along the trails of saliva he'd left on the demon and eyelids half-mast over the glowing blue fires of his irises.

At the growl that came from the demon Rin decided he'd teased enough, raising his head over Mephisto to let his mouth full of bristling fangs hang in another casual threat, watching how it made Mephisto suck in a startled breath, body freezing while Rin stayed there, suspended.

Rin gave a shuddering roll of his neck and forced the fangs back until just the regular ones remained, hearing Mephisto's breathing start back up again.

By then Amaimon had made his way to where Rin had been next to Mephisto's head, the demon's gold eyes spearing into him, though Rin didn't meet the gaze, keeping his full attention on Mephisto.

He let his tongue fall out, winding it around Mephisto before pulling it off again in a twist, tasting the pre-come there and humming in pleasure.

"Did you know," Rin finally spoke, breaking the stillness as he pinned his eyes on Mephisto's to see how his next sentence would affect him, "I've been teaching myself how to do what you and Amaimon can do?"

Twin intakes of hissed breath reached his ears and Rin smiled, knowing he'd done his job.

He didn't give either of them any more time to process his words, getting his mouth around Mephisto's length and taking it down in one fell swoop until his nose pressed to the demon's taut stomach.

The sound he got from the demon king made him groan around Mephisto, taking tiny breaths through his nose as he gave himself time to adjust to the intrusion.

The first long drag of his mouth had Mephisto arching his back, trying to push further into Rin's throat and once again unable to as Rin kept him in place, anticipating the instinctual reaction.

His jaw was already aching, spit slicking his lips and the angle uncomfortable for him, but it didn't even matter when he looked up to see the way Mephisto was coming undone with every pass of his mouth.

Mephisto was heavy in his throat, so much different from the objects he'd used to practice with and so much better too.

Rin pulled back to look at Amaimon, releasing with a wet pop to as Mephisto gasped, frustration blazing in his eyes.

His voice, when he spoke the earth king's name, was rough, throat raw from his efforts.

"Amaimon, will you help me?"

Amaimon let out a helpless moan through his teeth at that request, crawling over until he could bring his mouth to Rin's, tasting Mephisto on his lips before unwinding their tongues and fisting a hand in Rin's white hair, guiding him back down to take Mephisto into his mouth again.

The first push of Amaimon's hand against his head shoved him down an inch and Rin forced himself to relax as he was pulled back up, the sharp pain stinging where strands of hair were being tugged only adding to the whole experience.

He could feel Mephisto tightening and knew the demon was close.

He jolted, letting out a muffled whine when Amaimon decided to start running a hand over his tail, the sound causing Mephisto to twitch in his mouth before the purr forced from the rough drags to his tail had Mephisto coming against the back of his throat with a shattered gasp.

Rin swallowed, managing to capture most of the release before he had to push himself off to cough to the side, still unable to handle to sensation like the other two could.

Amaimon mouthed at his spine, running warm hands up his shaking sides while he panted at the exertion until he could squint up through the tears in his eyes at Mephisto.

Rin smiled a deeply satisfied smile to see the demon king exactly where he'd left him, arms stretched above his head and chest heaving as he came down from his release.

Then he was toppled onto his back and found Amaimon in his lap, the demon already swallowing him down.

Rin gasped at the wet suction around him, head knocking back into the mattress and hands coming to grab Amaimon's hair, moaning at the sudden heat.

Amaimon didn't waste time teasing, and Rin pushed up without regard for pace or rhythm, eyes rolling back in his head as he came with a cry.

Sated, Rin stretched in a sinuous roll of his body over the twisted covers beneath him, pleasant buzz humming through him as Amaimon sat back up.

But he had one last thing to take care of before he could rest, so Rin twisted onto his stomach and crawled back up to where Mephisto lay, dropping to the demon's side to nuzzle into his neck.

"Will you release me now, Rin?"

Rin peeked up from under his bangs to catch the green of Mephisto's eyes watching him.

"Hmm," Rin pressed his teeth to the Mephisto's neck in a mock bite, "I don't know, I kinda want to see how long you can last like this."

"Demon," Mephisto hissed, though Rin detected a hint of delight hidden in the word.

But he wanted Mephisto's hands on him more than he wanted to torment him further, so he propped himself up to gently pick the knot out of the bow and free the demon from his bonds.

He was already curled around Mephisto by the time the demon had enough feeling back in his limbs to wrap his arms around him, drawing him closer to his chest.

Amaimon lay on Mephisto's other side, tugging the blanket back over himself until only the top of his head could be seen.

"I hate the cold," the earth king grumbled, glaring at where the glass doors had been left wide open to let the chill air in.

Rin snickered, pulling the blanket the rest of the way over he and Mephisto, "I'm so glad I don't have to deal with that anymore."

"You make a very convenient space heater, Rin," Mephisto said, snapping his fingers to shut the door and turn the lights off.

"You're welcome," Rin stuck his tongue out at the demon before settling down with a contented sigh.

Rin could still see the lights from the city through the dark glass, knowing some of them were probably fires from demonic attacks or accidents caused by people who'd just discovered they could see the malevolent beings.

He also knew he had to have a very important talk with Mephisto soon about some things he'd rather not talk about at all.

But everything could wait until morning, he would be enjoying the peace for as long as it would last.

* * *

Well, here you go, thus ends the longest chapter yet for this fic (44 pages omfg). Probably because I'm punishing myself for not fitting everything into 10 chapters like I wanted :D Still one more to go and then I'll be waiting until the new aoe chapters come out to see where they're taking the story so the main plot of this fic is pretty much done and I can finally catch up on all the sleep I've not been sleeping :D

Buuuuut I have side stories planned for all the behind-the-scenes stuff for this fic that didn't make it into the main one. I'll put those into Incandescence Sides where I get to write such fun things like: Mephisto teaching Amaimon to dance for the festival! And all the other Amaimon/Mephisto scenes that Rin missed out on witnessing! POV changes to see how Mephisto was actually feeling about Rin and Amaimon teasing him at the party! Maybe a future flash to that one-year anniversary red bow surprise Rin promised! And other fun things!


	11. When Traveling Don't Forget Your Demon

When (Time)Traveling Don't Forget Your Demon

A/N And now for something completely different! The future's been kinda rough on Mephisto, Rin is very (very) happy to see his favorite demon king of time whole and un-injured. Rin is not happy to see all the other stuff that has to do with the past, but he'll take what he can get… out of Mephisto (or Mephisto's hide).

So idk what they're planning on for Rin's appearance in future chapters, like, maybe when he goes berserk now his little horn nubs will grow into actual horns and he'll get those black claws and long tongue like the other demons do (I think I heard that curl on Mephisto's head and Amaimon's hair spike are supposed to be their horns? What's up with Astaroth's giant ram horns then?).

But I'm making the executive decision to give Rin permanent horn nubs, long tongue, slit-pupil eyes, and black claws like the other demon kings now bc what's the fun of burning to a crisp, awakening in a cool new (full?) demon body, and getting cute horn nubs if they don't stick around amirite? So those features aren't totally canon- at least the black claws aren't, but I wanted them anyway so they're here :D

On that note, it seems to me the demons in ane have magical extending body features anyway. Like, their fangs and ears change length whenever they're feeling particularly demonic. I've seen official art of Mephisto with short, human looking nails and Rin rarely has claws in the manga, even when he's newly awakened, whereas Amaimon has his black daggers for claws out all the time. Maybe it's a choice/instinctual thing? So for this fic I've decided to give the demons the ability to kinda warp their body parts as they become less human/drop their human façade. Like the creepy extended smile Mephisto gets that has too many sharp pointy teeth for a human mouth to hold and that long-ass Venom-esque tongue Satan has in the first episode lol

Other things I've elected to ignore about canon: Amaimon's actual height is apparently only 5'7"? You'll tear my lanky string-bean of an earth king out of my cold dead hands :D I'm putting him at 6'2" to Rin's 5'8". At least Mephisto is still sitting pretty (or standing lol) at 6'5" according to the ane wiki, though I feel like I've heard official sources shrunk him a couple inches (ignoring that too thanks).

Also that Amaimon and Mephisto have canon birthdays (or anniversaries? Which is what the wiki said though Idk what that means). Like, which day counts as their "birthday"? The one they gained egos on? The day they first possessed a body? The day humans first created the concept of them that would eventually lead to their gaining egos and bodies? IDK :D

What I think happened is Mephisto thought the concept of a birthday was a cute little human thing and spent the time going over their quaint ideas about astrology until he selected a birthday for himself and the other kings to use on their official paperwork whenever they need it.

And so he can go, gawd, Lucifer, ur such a Gemini :\ And Lucifer can be like, but I thought you said I was a Sagittarius? While Amaimon chews on another game controller in the corner or something idfk :D

*Whew these author notes are getting kinda long, huh?*

Song(s) of the chapter: Love Runs Out by OneRepublic and East Of Eden by Zella Day

* * *

Rin lay on his back in Mephisto's bed with his arms spread to either side and Amaimon still asleep next to him.

The early morning winter light was weak where it came in from the veranda windows and he knew he could stay where he was for a few more hours if he decided to.

But he forced himself to get out from beneath the covers and went to go face the music.

A soft purr from Amaimon caught his attention and Rin smiled down at the demon, leaning over to press a kiss to his mussed green hair.

He left the sleeping earth king, finding the tie to his robe he still had on where Amaimon had tossed it the night before, knotted it back around his waist, and made his way to where Mephisto sat at his small coffee table, a platter of breakfast pastries already laid out.

"Amaimon is kinda like a cat," Rin opened with, sitting down across from Mephisto and accepting the coffee he was offered, letting it steam in the still air of the room.

"Go on," Mephisto said, smiling at him and resting his cheek in his hand.

"Super independent, could sleep all day if you let him, and likes to claw things up for fun," Rin began as he swirled the dark liquid in an absent pattern, "also, I noticed he didn't really like the bathhouse, so add 'hates water' to that list."

"A very apt description, Rin."

Rin relaxed into the chair, enjoying the slow peace while it lasted. He realized he liked the way Mephisto looked in the morning. Though he doubted Mephisto ever really let himself be fully unguarded, Rin thought this might be the closest the demon would ever get around him to such a state.

He let his gaze trace over the way the cool light revealed the different shades of purple in Mephisto's hair and green eyes, following the shadows cast in the slope of his nose and across the sharp pane of his cheek.

A warmth spread through Rin's chest that had nothing to do with his nature or the coffee he was sipping at and everything to do with the demon sitting across from him.

Mephisto tapped a claw against his porcelain cup in a move Rin would call a fidget in anyone else, eyeing him with a budding puzzlement, though Rin caught him trying to cover it up with his usual flirtations.

"See something interesting, Rin?"

Rin hid a smile with his own cup, rubbing a finger at the rim of it as he inhaled the scent of the coffee and the way it mixed with Mephisto's.

"I just like looking at you."

Another score for him, Rin tallied inwardly as a light dusting of pink spread over Mephisto's cheeks before the demon king turned his head to the windows as if to hide the reaction.

The distraction worked, though, Rin finding his attention drawn to the world outside. The sounds of last night's panic from the city had cooled and now all Rin could hear were the soft coos of the pigeons hiding from the cold on the roof.

He hadn't fully realized the true extent of those new perks that had come with his awakening, including an even better sense of hearing alongside the improved sense of sight and smell. He thought that he might be able to tell if someone were sick like Amaimon had said he could when they'd thought the worst was happening to Shiemi.

He could even smell his claim on Mephisto now, the energy between them giving off a particular scent that was more than just the non-physical connection he'd been so thrilled to discover the night before.

Rin again wished that he didn't have to break the silence of the moment with his next words.

But they'd finished, coffee mugs emptied, pastries gone, and nothing left to do but begin.

By the anticipation in Mephisto's green eyes, the demon king knew it too.

"I think it's time…"

Rin tilted his head, frown on his face and sigh on his lips at what he had to do, "I think it's time I asked you about how Yukio and I were born, about Satan, and my mother. And about Father Fujimoto."

He felt his eye twitch when his words just made Mephisto shiver in pleasure, neck rolling in a long stretch and his response practically moaned out, "oh, Rin, you have no idea how long I've waited for you to say that to me."

"I'd really prefer not to know about the past," Rin grumbled, glaring at the laugh that drew from the demon, "Yukio's the one who really wants to. You should have just told him."

Mephisto sighed, tipping his head back against the chair in exasperation, "trust me, I've tried that avenue many times. It does not work out in anyone's favor."

Rin squinted over at him at that revelation, "your life is just one big video game with do-overs and save files and everything, isn't it?"

"Ah, video games," Mephisto grinned, "man's greatest invention."

Rin snorted, shaking his head at the demon's ridiculous obsession with his games, not that he hadn't taken advantage of his massive collection the times he'd spent at the mansion.

"So?" Rin pressed, wanting to get the story over with as quickly as possible so he could have a quiet freak-out somewhere to process the no-doubt horrifying truths contained in it.

"Ah, this is a story better experienced first-hand," Mephisto rested his cheek on his palm again, leaning closer to Rin over the table as if he was letting him in a secret.

"To do that, you'll need to go back to the past," the demon's voice oozed glee, smile widening with each word, "alone."

He brought his fingers up.

"With this."

Rin blinked as the magic transport key Mephisto had given him at the start of the year poofed into his hand where he waved it over the table until Rin held out his hand to receive it.

"This is the master key to the past, the only one of its kind, and capable of carrying its bearer to their desired dimension."

"You mean I've had this super important key the whole time and you expected me to keep it safe?" Rin gaped at Mephisto, "I lose so many things!"

"Well," Mephisto's smile turned smug, "you didn't lose this so make sure you take good care of it now that you know."

Rin glared at him again as he pulled the key to his chest like he might lose it right there in the room.

"Also," Mephisto snapped his fingers and Rin gasped as he found himself dressed in a dark black military-style uniform that almost looked like what the exorcists wore, "you'll need this. It's a special patrol uniform of my own design that will let you go anywhere. And if you flip the hood up it'll hide you like the camo ponchos you've used in the past."

Rin smoothed a hand down his chest, blinking up at Mephisto, "uh, what do I do about my heart?"

Another snap and the glowing blue flames of his heart swirled away until he almost looked normal again. If he ignored his black clawed fingers and still slit-pupiled eyes, that was, which he could tell were still there by his improved vision.

And, with a careful prod at his forehead, Rin saw his horns had disappeared, too.

He stood, tugging at the uniform, and looked up to see Mephisto standing in front of him, staring with a not so subtle hunger in his eyes.

"It's too bad you have to leave us so soon," the demon let his eyes trail up and down his form, "you look good enough to eat in that."

Rin crossed his arms, huffing at the compliment, "you've got a thing for dressing us up, don't you?"

Mephisto crowded against him, pressing their hips together so he could lean down to claim Rin's mouth in a slow kiss, voice a low murmur at his lips when he broke it, "one of these days, I will make you and Amaimon try on some things I've been saving for just the two of you. My own personal show."

"I think I can live with that," Rin swallowed at the idea, eyes zoning out as he tried to imagine what the demon could possibly have stored away for them.

"Something to look forward to, then," Mephisto gave him one last deep kiss and stepped back.

"Now then. To use that key simply shut any door- the balcony doors will do, lock them, twist the key in, think of where you want to go, open the doors and walk through."

Rin looked down at the key with trepidation, still not happy that he had to use it. He sent a glance over at where Amaimon slept one last time, watching the rise and fall of the bundle of blankets before walking to the doors and doing as instructed.

The yawning black void that greeted him didn't help his reluctance, but Rin just sucked in a breath, squared his shoulders and walked through.

* * *

Rin blinked, finding himself standing on the rooftop of a random building covered in snow, breath fogging into the air as he looked around in confusion.

Besides the generally shoddy appearance of everything around him, nothing screamed 'this is the past' at him.

Movement reached his ears and he turned to see a figure with white hair standing at the top of a nearby roof. But when the figure noticed him, he let out a panicked shout and darted away before Rin could ask him anything.

"Later, you'll know him as the priest, Shiro Fujimoto."

At the familiar voice, Rin turned and beamed, heart jolting with shock at the surprise but filling with joy a moment later.

"Mephisto!"

"Well," Mephisto tilted his head, the smile he'd been wearing twitching into something a bit ruffled, "I believe that's the happiest anyone has ever been to see me."

"Did you come back with me?" Rin stepped over to the demon, peering up where he was perched on an air-duct wearing a dated looking suit. Though he had a pink polka-dot tie on and a matching umbrella propped over his shoulder that showed the demon's tastes apparently never changed.

"Nope," Mephisto leapt down, closing the umbrella, "I'm just about forty years before your time."

Rin eyed him before another smile spread on his lips, "you look good."

"Oh?"

"The future hasn't been too kind to you," Rin muttered, thinking to the degradation Mephisto was still healing from.

"But," he hesitated, searching the demon's eyes and biting at his lip, "you do know me, right?"

"Yes, Rin. I know you," Mephisto said, smile wry as he took in his worry.

Rin made the last few steps to wrap his arms around the demon, pressing his face to the body that no longer smelled of rot or appeared emaciated from the building strain of the sheer energy pressing against it at all times despite Mephisto's abilities to slow it down.

A purr went through him as his hug was returned.

"My body may change, but my identity as the king of time remains the same," Mephisto said against his hair, "I'll know you no matter which era we're in."

"Good," Rin rubbed his cheek over Mephisto's chest one last time and pulled back, "so, where am I supposed to be going?"

Mephisto poofed into his little dog form, tiny polka-dotted snow shoes on his feet that were soon pawing at Rin's legs until he picked him up, getting a wet lick to his cheek in thanks.

"I'll be your guide. Head through that door, please."

Rin hugged Mephisto closer to his chest and stuck the master key into the lock.

"Remember, Rin," Mephisto added, "this story ends in tragedy."

"I know," Rin tucked his face into the fur of Mephisto's ruff, inhaling there to steady himself before stepping through into the decrepit building.

A black blur ran past him, startling him, though curiosity pressed him to follow the blur's path until he came to an open space in the derelict warehouse.

The blur turned out to be a girl with wild black hair that curled down her back like a waterfall, framing a face full of little moles and blue eyes. She squeaked when she saw him and darted away.

Rin already knew who she was when he heard one of the old homeless people call her name, beckoning her over to the fire they sat around.

Yuri. His mother.

"Ah, Rin," Mephisto's head shifted to look up at him, "try not to be noticed by anyone. It won't create any nasty paradoxes, but it will leave them confused so it's best to avoid it."

"Sure," Rin mumbled, crouching down behind some boxes to watch the scene before him.

He learned his mother was an orphan. That two of the homeless people she lived with used to be exorcists.

And that the other day she'd met a blue fireball called a Rinka.

Rin sucked in a breath, tightening his grip around Mephisto while he watched his mother fall asleep after her meal.

"They look happy," Rin murmured, soft smile on his face as he took in the misfit family, "I'm glad."

Mephisto was quiet in his arms and Rin ran a soothing hand along the demon's back, wondering at his strange silence.

"Let's move forward in time."

Rin blinked at that sudden statement but went to another door, allowing Mephisto to lead him into the future.

He found himself alone in a junkyard, his mother playing with random broken toys she'd collected.

It was… a little sad to see her playing by herself without any friends.

He didn't have time to think about it as the blue flames appeared and knocked one of the tin cans from the pattern his mother had arranged them in.

"It's Satan."

Rin gulped at Mephisto's words when the demon joined him again. He knew that the little girl would be safe, seeing as she had to grow to eventually have he and Yukio, but was still having to fight his instincts to rescue her from the blue flames anyways.

He learned that blue flames had been popping up all over Assiah for years, known by many names throughout the cultures that saw them- Japan's own Fox Fire being the one he was most familiar with.

But this was the first time the flames had shown awareness in the form of play.

Yuri was called away from the dangerous scrap heaps by her guardian, Satan vanishing before it could be seen.

And then the next scene Rin entered was of a building on fire, the black smoke billowing into the air in the claustrophobic crush of derelict buildings.

Rin stood back with the crowd of people gathered outside and watched with a sinking heart. Yuri running past him to try to get back into the building and save her adopted family confirmed his fears. The factory where his mother lived was burning.

He found out later that three bodies had been discovered inside and that Yuri was alone now, left to wander the streets.

Mephisto met him to lead him away from the sight of his mother shivering asleep in the snow and Rin once again found himself clutching the demon to his chest into the next scene.

Things looked up slightly as his mother had discovered some guy's hideout, which seemed a little dangerous to him, but it was at least a warm and dry place to sleep.

Still, Rin crouched in the snow to peer into the open slats under the flimsy tin roof to keep an eye on her.

"Please remember you can't interfere with events, Rin."

Rin looked down to where he had Mephisto tucked into the front of his uniform.

"Okay," he assured the demon, scratching at the chilled ears peeking out into the air. He grinned when Mephisto twitched his ears at the touch and couldn't resist tweaking one of them.

Mephisto growled, glaring up at Rin with a curled lip revealing one of his little doggy fangs and Rin had to force back the coo trying to escape his mouth, "be aware, Rin, that despite appearances to the contrary and my current form, I am very much the same demon."

Rin knew, he really did. He leant down to plant a kiss on the demon's adorable black nose anyway.

Mephisto sneezed right in his face.

"Agh! Ew," Rin wiped at his skin with the sleeve of his coat, cracking open his eyes to glare at the smug expression he received.

His lips trembled into a smile a moment later and he snickered, dropping his head to Mephisto's and closing his eyes again, "sorry, I couldn't stop myself. I'll try to behave, now."

"Honestly, I've given you the key to an age-old conspiracy that others have literally killed to try unlocking and you're busy playing with my ears," Mephisto grumbled at him, shifting until he was covered from the cold better, though that just made Rin want to squeeze the little demon harder.

"Well, when you put it like that," Rin hummed, trying to placate the elder. Though, really, he had warned Mephisto. He had no interest in the past, but plenty of interest in his two favorite demons.

His mother had laid down to sleep, exhaustion leaving her in a heap under the pile of blankets she'd found. With nothing left to do, Rin settled down to sleep himself, curling his arms in a more secure hold around Mephisto.

He was snapped awake when a new person appeared, pushing open the door to the hideout in a gust of wind.

And there was Shiro in all his pre-teen glory.

And he was kind of an ass, Rin found, grimacing down at Mephisto.

"Who are you?" Shiro snapped at Yuri, "what're you doing in my hide-out?"

Yuri only stared in shock, prompting a snarl from the angry pre-teen.

"I'll kill you!"

Rin bit at his lip, watching the scene playout.

"He's ruthless," Rin muttered as his mother explained her situation to the uncaring Shiro, who had no pity for the homeless girl trying to seek shelter.

"You're" his mother stuttered, tears of anger building in her eyes, "you're the Yukiotoko!"

Rin blinked, hearing the name of a spirit one of Yuri's dead family had told her about that was described as tall, white, cold and terrifying, finding the description apt. And there was something familiar in the name.

"Yukio, huh?"

He was shaken out of his musings as Mephisto wiggled in his grip and he let him loose, the demon hopping to the snow and cocking his head up to him.

"I need to leave you now, Rin."

Rin nodded, wordless, as he got the sense something was up with Mephisto though he couldn't place what that was. But he pressed a kiss to the soft fur at the little demon's forehead, watching the lidded green eyes when he pulled back with a frown. Mephisto didn't say anything else before poofing away, leaving Rin alone.

He didn't have time to contemplate that puzzle further as his mom bargained with Shiro to get him to let her stay, promising him a stash of more dirty magazines she knew the location of because apparently his old man was a degenerate no matter what age.

But at least she had a place to stay now, Rin sighed, settling back again to watch as his mother spoke with the standoffish Shiro, sitting against him for warmth despite his irritated grumbling.

A noise snapped Rin's attention away from the scene as he realized something was fast approaching the location from the street level. Before he could react, the flimsy glass window shattered and a black hell hound was snarling in the room.

Rin watched as his mother and Shiro were swarmed by what looked like exorcists, though their uniforms were like his and not the updated ones he was used to seeing.

"We've found you," one of the men spoke, shining a bright light onto the peeved expression on Shiro's face, "you're the only one from the Azazel group to do this, you know."

He had to clench his claws into his palms to avoid doing anything as the exorcists rounded on his mother, suspicious about her presence and not happy to have her overhear anything.

Shiro just sniffed and dismissed her as some homeless kid that snuck in, but Rin could see one of the exorcists reaching into his holster behind his back and felt his lips curl over a fang at the sight.

But his mother saved herself with her ability to see demons, blinking at the growling face of the hellhound and calling it a nice doggy.

She was gathered up with Shiro and taken to the car the exorcists had arrived in. The last Rin heard as they drove away was that they were headed to Asylum.

He had a location.

Rin let out a long exhale as the car faded into the falling snow until he couldn't see it anymore, feeling a phantom cold send a shiver through his body.

He'd been… so lonely as a kid, his wild nature pushing away anyone who might want to be around him. But he'd had Yukio by his side and a home with Shiro.

His mother had nothing, and he couldn't imagine what loneliness she must have been feeling at that moment.

But he would have to follow her to see where her story led anyway, and he turned to the nearest door to use the key, letting it take him to Asylum.

When he opened the door and went through, he found himself in what looked like the Academy and he had a sinking suspicion that the two places were the same.

Rin caught sight of his mother being led away to get cleaned and settled into her new home, if it could be called that. Shiro was taken to a separate area, much to his mother's distress. But she didn't have a choice, keeping her eyes on him until she could no longer see him and was forced to follow the adults tugging her along.

His mother's full name was Yuri Egin, a note from her own mother had been found sewn into the lining of her bag, though she couldn't read it even when they handed it to her. Rin learned the name of his grandmother, too, Yoko Egin, and he once again found himself at a loss as to what to do with that information.

He also found out that Asylum was an exorcism training camp and his mother was immediately enrolled in classes, now a ward of the place since she had no one to claim her.

Rin watched her fall asleep in her new military style bunk amidst other kids, though she seemed happy, excited to begin her new life, and wasn't crying like some of the newly arrived kids around her.

He left her there, closing the door and opening another to head into the future again.

* * *

Rin blinked, recognizing his surroundings when he stepped out.

It was the side entrance to Mephisto's office and Rin inhaled, bringing the scent of the demon king to his nose.

Mephisto was there in the room.

Probably even at his desk.

Rin crept forward to peer around the entryway when a knock at the main doors stopped him short.

"Enter."

Mephisto was at his desk and Rin felt a light shiver go up his spine, though he kept himself hidden.

"I've brought the subject you requested," an exorcist called from the door.

"Thank you," Mephisto responded, "you may go now."

And it was just an angry looking Shiro, Mephisto, and Rin in the office.

"So," Mephisto began, and Rin could see the demon hiding a smirk behind his hand, "you're Shiro, experimental subject AO-004, in the Azazel group."

Rin didn't understand half of the words in that sentence but Shiro didn't seem surprised by any of it, choosing to remain in a sullen silence as he waited for Mephisto to get to his point.

Mephisto quirked a clawed hand at the pre-teen, revealing his smirk, "come closer."

It came out then, how Shiro had been the only one of the Azazel group to regularly slip his guards, escaping to the slums to squirrel away money doing odd jobs and selling parts in his hidden refuge until he'd been caught.

"The world is a harsh place," Mephisto said, mock sympathy in his voice, "wouldn't it just be easier to live a quiet life here?"

Rin flinched as Shiro sneered at the thought, "I was gonna escape once I saved up enough money. Anything's better than living in isolation with a bunch of guys who look like me."

Shiro clenched his fists, glaring into the widening smirk on Mephisto's face.

"I'd rather die!"

Rin was beginning to get a clearer picture of what was going on in Asylum and it made his chest ache. Especially when he heard Shiro's next words, asking whether he would be killed, then, as the director of Section Thirteen, Mephisto Pheles, had the power and say to do.

Mephisto's answering cackles at Shiro's audacity echoed in Rin's ears and the response from Shiro confirmed what Rin suspected.

"You like me, huh?"

The demon found the little spit-fire of a kid hilarious, Rin sighed inwardly. It was no wonder with the way Mephisto always taunted those around him to get such reactions, including Shura, who this mini-Shiro was reminding Rin of more and more.

But the next sequence of events stopped his heart, eyes widening as he watched Shiro leap onto the desk, grab Mephisto's tie and yank the demon forward to make his demand.

"Make me an exwire!"

Shiro wanted to be free. The bitter words of his plan laying out how he would make his way up to Paladin to attain the status, honor, and wealth that came with the position.

"I'm not going out as some demonic sacrifice," he bit out, bringing his snarling face closer to the wry smile on Mephisto's and panting as his words left him.

"You're both stupid and ignorant," Mephisto giggled, head dropping back to hang from the grip still on his tie, "even if you make Paladin you'll swear fealty to the Order and be its dog."

"You'll never be free."

"Bring it on," Shiro hissed, bringing his head up to show his pinprick pupils and razor smile, "I'm gonna kill every demon I see. And I'll kill and kill, and when my owners are finally done using me I'm gonna tear your throat out with my teeth!"

Somehow, Rin discovered, though he wasn't very surprised with the way the demon king was about violence, Shiro's words only made Mephisto smile wider, "sounds fun."

He pulled his tie out of Shiro's grip, fitting it back around his neck, and proclaimed he would make his recommendation that Shiro be the next exwire chosen from the Azazel group.

With one condition.

"If you yield to a demon even once," Mephisto cocked a clawed finger up at the narrow-eyed Shiro, "you have to grant me one favor, anything I ask!"

Shiro accepted the wager, something Rin could have told him he'd one day come to regret, as most wagers with the demon tended to do.

But Shiro left, shouting back from the entrance that Mephisto had better keep his promise and slamming the door behind him.

Rin sighed, ears ringing in the silence of the office now that the excitement was over.

"Thank you for being discreet, Rin," Mephisto's voice called, bringing Rin's attention back to the demon, "you may come out now."

Rin stood from his crouch, wincing at the ache in his knees from holding the position for so long and walking up to the desk to stare down at the smug face of the demon king.

"You've got a type, you know," Rin huffed a breath out, hand on his hip when the smile on Mephisto's face turned wicked, "me, Amaimon, Shiro- and don't think I haven't noticed the way you flirt with Shura, who I'm pretty sure wants to kill you and she's only holding back because, technically, you're her boss."

"That conquest may yet yield fruit one of these days," Mephisto let out a wistful sigh, eyes gazing upwards at the thought of somehow getting past Shura's utter hatred and mistrust for him.

"Good luck with that," Rin snorted, crossing his arms, "and before you say anything, I really, really, don't ever need or want to know anything about what you may or may not do with Shiro or Shura in the future, thanks."

"It'll just be my little secret, then," Mephisto grinned, letting his tongue slide across his lower lip in a suggestive way that Rin let himself enjoy as he happily ignored whatever implications it had.

"So," the demon settled back his chair, "no questions about what you just witnessed here? That doesn't seem like you at all."

Rin allowed his lips to widen in a smile in response to the curious expression on Mephisto's face, "I think whatever I ask is gonna end up being shown to me somewhere along this story, so I can wait."

"I suppose we're done here, then," Mephisto frowned, cocking his head as if disappointed he wouldn't get to tempt Rin with the promise of hidden knowledge.

"Sure," Rin agreed, then proceeded to not move from his spot as his smile grew, "except there was something I was thinking about during that whole thing earlier."

"Oh?" Mephisto's brows furrowed as he tried to guess at what Rin's thoughts could have been after the shocking revelations he'd heard from Shiro.

Rin was leaning over the desk and tugging Mephisto forward by his tie before the demon could react. A mirror of what he'd just gone through at Shiro's hands.

"I was thinking I don't see my claw marks on your desk anymore and I wanted to fix that."

And Rin pulled Mephisto another inch closer into a kiss, eyes open to watch the beautiful expression of surprise on the demon king's face.

He wound his tongue along Mephisto's, grinning when the demon finally got with the program and kissed back, clawed hand coming up to grasp at Rin's hair and deepening the angle.

Mephisto broke the kiss, lips just brushing his as he spoke against them, "I just bought this desk and you already want to break it in?"

"It'll give you something to remember me by until you see me again who knows how long from now," Rin tilted his head, eyes shuttering as he focused his attention on the demon's neck just out of his reach. His hand tightened on the tie he hadn't released yet, pulling Mephisto another inch closer as he considered climbing over the wide desk to get at what he wanted.

Mephisto vanished from his hold and Rin gasped as he found the demon had reappeared at his back, pressing him down to the wooden surface under him.

He arched up into the hips behind his, a purr escaping his mouth when his hands were captured, Mephisto's chest bearing down on him in a heated weight until he was fully covered by the other.

"Unfortunately, Rin, I can't let you mark this desk up just yet," Mephisto said into his ear, nipping at it when Rin shifted beneath him at the hard edge digging into his thighs, "think of how upset that younger version of you would be to discover someone else's claw marks when you see it in the future."

Rin twisted his hips back into Mephisto's, grumbling as he realized the demon had a point but determined to enjoy himself anyway, "fine, but you're gonna have to do something about that then, because I doubt I'll be able to stop myself from it on my own."

He found his hands pulled back behind him and the sound of soft fabric slipping along itself reached his ears. He had a moment to wonder at it until his wrists were bound in the tie he'd just been yanking on.

Rin gave an experimental tug on the binding, turning to look over his shoulder to see Mephisto eyeing his attempts with a pleased smile.

The demon caught his gaze, green eyes glinting in the light of the window behind his desk as he traced a clawed finger over where Rin's wrist met the silk of the tie, "what was it you said to me, Rin?"

"Hm?" Rin tried to focus on Mephisto's words, something that was made difficult when his hips were grabbed and the demon king began rubbing in short, light movements against him.

Rin chased the heat he could feel from where their bodies touched, though the sensation was dulled through the layers of his clothes and he already knew Mephisto was going to be an absolute bastard about things.

A moment later and he was proven right.

"Ah, yes," Mephisto snapped his fingers and removed their clothes, letting them fold in a nearby chair as Rin sucked in a breath, shivering at the slide of their skin together without anything in the way.

"Turnabout is fair play."

Rin's bound wrists were drawn up in one of Mephisto's hands until he moaned at the ache of it, back arching to try to mitigate the pain and feeling himself hardening despite it at the continued motions from the demon.

The edge of the desk bit uncomfortably into him but Rin was able to unwind his tail from his waist to drag it against Mephisto's chest, letting the long fur at the end brush over the demon king's skin and eliciting a low growl.

He froze as his tail was grabbed, slumping into the wood under him when Mephisto brought the tip of it to his mouth and nipped with sharp fangs.

Rin had to clench his fists to avoid tearing the binding on them, breaths coming faster as his pulse picked up in his veins.

He ended up digging his claws into his palms instead, still not used to having them out all the time, and he grunted at the sudden pain, feeling the warmth of his blood as it pooled there.

A moment later and Mephisto's tongue was lapping at the healing wounds with another low growl, the demon leaning over and his hair tickling at Rin's wrists while he gasped at the pain mixed with pleasure.

Rin felt his hips jolt forward, trying to get the friction he needed and couldn't, chewing at his lip with the building frustration until he turned his head to glare at Mephisto.

"I will use my tail again, Mephisto. Don't think I won't," Rin hissed at the sly eyes peeking up from where the demon was twining his tongue over Rin's curled fingers at his lower back.

"Ah!"

Mephisto's smile had teeth in it then as he squeezed Rin's tail in his hand, "when you play with a double-edged sword you should be prepared for the consequences, Rin."

Rin couldn't keep his head up anymore, dropping it to the desk and closing his eyes while he forgot how to speak with every pass Mephisto dragged along his tail.

His shoulders were aching, body twitching over the desk and breath shaking out of his lungs as his tail writhed in Mephisto's hold.

"Mephisto, plea-" Rin yelped, forehead knocking into the surface beneath him when his tail was released and Mephisto began rubbing at his entrance instead.

"I realize I've been treating you like Amaimon recently. I thought I should rectify that," Mephisto said, moving on to run his hands over Rin's trembling sides as he failed to hurry things along like Rin wanted.

"Wha?" Rin couldn't begin to wonder what Mephisto was talking about, panting against the desk where his cheek pressed painfully into the hard surface and he stared with unfocused eyes at the cream-colored wall opposite him.

A clawed finger slid between his tensed shoulder blades, the light scratch not even breaking skin, and Rin felt a desperation begin to build up in him at the gentle treatment.

He needed more, the soft touches nowhere near enough.

A snap and a click reached Rin's ears then and Mephisto's finger slid against his entrance again, this time slicked with something that had Rin turning his head in confusion.

Rin groaned when his eyes met Mephisto's cheeky grin and saw the bottle of unscented oil he shook where he held it between his fingers.

He knew what the damn demon king was talking about, then.

"Oh my god," Rin hissed out, cheeks flushing as he glared at the impish expression on Mephisto's face, "you literally let me burn alive, like, a night ago and now you're going back to treating me like a human?"

It wasn't the oil that was the problem- actually, Rin couldn't understand why Mephisto and Amaimon didn't use it more often. It was the gentle treatment instead of what he'd really been after when he yanked the demon's tail, so to speak.

"Already joking about that, are we?" The bottle vanished as Mephisto watched him with a rising delight at the frustration he was causing, "and here I was thinking I would make up for the poor way I've behaved towards you."

Rin growled, winding his tail around Mephisto's waist to yank him closer, the demon allowing himself to be shifted until his length nudged against Rin.

"It's not joking if it actually happened," the answering laughter just made Rin glower, though it was quickly replaced by a sharp inhale of breath when Mephisto began sliding along him in deliberate movements.

"You can still make up for the bad behavior, tho-ah!"

Rin groaned when his words were cut off by another squeeze to the sensitive base of his tail, the appendage tightening on Mephisto's waist to escape the touch.

The reflexive movement rubbed Rin's fur against the grain and he hissed at the sparks set off up his spine even as his tail began slithering in fluid drags over Mephisto's skin to get more of the feeling.

Mephisto shivered in his hold and Rin felt the demon's own tail rise from its tight coils to meet his, the two lengths twisting against each other around the captured torso just as Mephisto finally began preparing him.

And Rin was back to moaning Mephisto's name, spreading his legs and arching his back, hoping the display would convince the demon not to tease for long.

The action earned him a deep rumble from the elder demon but did little else, only adding to Rin's mounting frustration.

His legs were shaking and he was leaking onto the desk by the time Mephisto pulled his fingers away to press them to his hips, prompting an unbidden purr to go through Rin's chest.

"Mephisto, please," Rin managed to gasp out, unable to concentrate enough to say anything else.

And Mephisto had his fangs pressing into his bunched shoulder a moment later, at the same time pressing into him in a sharp thrust that shoved Rin against the desk as a cry escaped his lips.

"Please, Rin," Mephisto echoed, breathless voice reaching Rin's ears over the throbbing of his pulse throughout his body as the demon moved in him, "you'll have to keep it down. We wouldn't want my guards outside those doors thinking anything untoward was happening in here."

Rin moaned at that information, cheeks flushing as he found the demon's clawed fingers in his mouth, then- a mocking attempt at silencing him. He tried to avoid biting down, sucking at the intrusions instead to keep himself from uttering anything too loud because of course Mephisto would forget to mention the guards stationed outside his doors until just that moment.

Spit slid down his chin even when Mephisto slid his fingers out of Rin's mouth to grip them at his hip and Rin shivered in anticipation.

Any thoughts were washed away as Mephisto pushed into him in earnest and Rin was sure bruises had formed where his body kept impacting the desk when Mephisto gave up the façade of treating him like a human.

One of Mephisto's hands gripped Rin's numbed arm and he groaned, biting at his tongue until he tasted blood to muffle the sound. The two sensations ached through him and sent his heart pounding while pleasure wound tighter and tighter in his stomach.

Heat spread, a buzzing filling his ears as his vision tunneled and all he could hear was the sounds that began coming from Mephisto's mouth and the choked keens coming from his own.

Then Mephisto did something to change the angle and Rin couldn't stop the shout that tore out of his throat, chest heaving as the demon hit the sensitive bundle of nerves in him and continued without any signs of mercy.

He desperately hoped his cry hadn't been as loud as it felt as he grit his teeth and clenched his eyes shut on the reflexive tears that pricked at the corners.

A growl built behind him and Mephisto lost whatever rhythm he'd had, claws digging into his hips as the demon snapped into him in one final push, shoving his body into the desk and holding it there as he released in pulsing waves that seared through Rin.

Before Rin could process anything beyond the slick heat pooling inside him, Mephisto had his tail unwound from his waist and was sucking the furred end, his other hand dragging at the base until Rin found his own release, biting his lip in a sharp slice of pain to muffle the groan from escaping.

He dropped his cheek back to the desk, pressing his forehead there as he panted. The aftershocks ran through him in a pleasant buzz and his tail drooped where Mephisto still held it, trailing to knock into the edge beside his trembling body.

Mephisto mouthed at his tensed back, the demon's warm breaths and tickling strands of hair bringing Rin's attention to his still trapped hands, now growing uncomfortably numbed without anything to distract him from the ache.

"Well," Mephisto huffed against him, "I hope you're satisfied with yourself. I did have a few pressing matters to attend to today, you know."

"Mmm, yep. I got what I wanted," Rin hummed, a deeply sated purr vibrating in his chest. He wriggled where he lay only to gasp when Mephisto pulled out of him, rubbing a clawed hand at his hip in a comforting motion as Rin became aware of the cooling liquid sticking to his skin.

But, when Mephisto brought his fingers to Rin's wrist to take his tie back, Rin twisted out of the hold, forcing his body to roll over on the desk and grinning up at the befuddled expression on Mephisto's face.

Another twist of his hands and he loosened the binding, freeing his arms even as he ducked his head to quirk his lips in a sly smile up from beneath his bangs at the way Mephisto's eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"I think I wanna keep this, actually," Rin said, dangling the rumpled tie from his fingertips before bringing it to his nose to breath in the way he and Mephisto's scents mingled in the fabric.

The slivering pupils in Mephisto's eyes and flaring nostrils as he scented out the same thing made Rin grin wider, letting his fangs peek out at the reaction.

"And where will you keep it, Rin?" came the soft growl from the demon, whose own fangs Rin could see extending in a slow slide to fill his mouth, just visible when he spoke.

He twitched his tail where it lay on the floor, catching Mephisto's gaze with the movement and watching with delight as he tracked its path to where Rin brought the tip of it to rest between his lips.

A rumble began in Mephisto's chest as Rin opened his mouth to let his teeth gently take hold over his own tail.

Sparks from where his fangs pricked at the sensitive skin jolted through his frayed nerves, though he ignored the feeling to wind the pink polka-dotted tie into a neat bow right where the short fur turned into the longer strands at the end.

"Here's good, right?"

And Rin found himself pushed onto his back on the desk in a possessive kiss, head tugged by his hair in Mephisto's clawed hands as the demon licked the blood still on his lips from where he'd bitten them earlier.

"Must you make it so hard to get you out of my office and back to doing what you're supposed to?" Mephisto growled against his mouth.

Rin snickered at the frustration in Mephisto's voice, forcing himself to stop before things escalated again, "sorry, it's just nice to see you looking like this again. I kinda got carried away."

Mephisto drew back, brows furrowed in confusion, "like what?"

Rin sat up too, running his hands down the un-marred skin of the demon's chest, a slight frown forming on his face, "healed."

Understanding entered Mephisto's eyes.

"I mean, I'll take you any way I can get you, but I don't like you in pain so I'm happy to see you like this," Rin hurried to say, propping himself back on his hands and shrugging.

"Oh, Rin," Mephisto sighed, cocking his head and staring as if he didn't know what to do with him, "you're still so human."

Rin laughed, quirking a wry smile at the poor demon, "well, a year as a demon isn't gonna erase the entire rest of my life as a human, you know."

His response garnered a matching smile from Mephisto, acquiescing to Rin's statement with a huff, "I suppose Amaimon was right yet again. I brought this on myself."

"I'll tell him you said that," Rin teased, moving forward to rest his hands at Mephisto's hips and plant a kiss on his neck, enjoying the way the pulse there fluttered at his attentions.

"You gonna clean me up now?" Rin murmured against the salt of the skin under his tongue where he traced it over the artery there.

Mephisto shuddered in his hold and Rin determined everything a job well done as he was snapped clean and back into his clothes, Mephisto doing the same for himself, too.

The effort it took to step away was apparent in Mephisto's body, the demon adjusting his gloves over his hands, looking oddly naked without a tie or scarf around his neck.

Rin patted at where his tail was wound under his uniform again, feeling the lump where his new accessory lay with a smug satisfaction.

He took the key out, preparing to head to the next scene, smiling up at Mephisto and rubbing a clawed finger over his covered tail.

Mephisto was watching him, hunger in the green of his eyes, as Rin walked past him to make his way to the door.

"I'll give this back when it stops smelling like you," Rin called over his shoulder, voice a light tease and a saunter in his steps that he didn't bother to hide.

And he was through the door, for once the black void it had become not bothering him in the slightest.

The story may end in tragedy, but Rin would be making Mephisto pay for it every step of the way.

* * *

Really, I should have called chapter 11 The Seduction Of Mephisto lmao

Sorry for the wait, guys (and any mistakes, I'll be going through and fixing them throughout the week but I thought you'd all waited long enough that I should get this posted)!

I kept getting distracted by all the side story ideas bouncing around in my head and drawing more cute pics lololol This chapter was originally gonna include so much more but that would have made it into another 40 page monster so I split it into two lol

I'll probably start working on posting those instead of the next chapter of this since I want to wait for more chapters of AnE to come out. Although ch 107? Was so good, I can't wait for the Mephy torture to start :D

And anyone know where Rin's been hiding the whole time through 107? bc I haven't noticed him in any of the scenes. So is he like, hiding under the camo poncho or something? Bc I need to know how close he was to Satan when Mephisto got his eye busted up, you know, for the h/c reasons :D


	12. Gotta Crack A Few Clones To Get A Host

(A/N) Welcome to Rin's guide on how to handle finding out your amoral demonic lover has been in charge of a lab dedicated to horrible, unethical studies involving countless severe crimes against humanity for the past century 101. Rin asks a very important question and Mephisto goes through the seven stages of grief, a first for him.

So, if anyone thought that maybe Mephisto was being too nice throughout this fic, I bring to you a helpful reminder that he is not :D

Alternative chapter titles were as follows:

Do you want clones? Because that's how you get clones

Demonic daddy issues

Thanks, Satan

Omg this chapter is killing me idk this is another one of those struggle chapters that fights me the whole wayyyyyy D:

Also, guys, GUYS when I wrote ch 12 and had Rin steal Mephisto's tie at the end, I had no idea that the next manga scene showed Mephisto wearing a new tie! Like? Maybe I am writing the manga, who knows? Incandescence is all happening off scene lololol

Song(s) of the chapter: Blood / Water by Grandson, Bury a Friend by Billie Ellish, Drop The Game by Flume & Chet Faker

* * *

Rin blinked when the door to the next scene opened to Mephisto's office where he'd just come from.

"Rin."

And there was the demon himself, striding down the hall towards him and adjusting another one of those dated looking suits over his frame. He even had some kind of fedora on, once again wrapped in a familiar strip of pink polka-dotted silk.

But the tie he wore was different.

Rin let a sharp grin scrawl its way across his face, bringing his hand to his chest where Mephisto's captured tie rested beneath and around his tail.

He watched the way the motion caused Mephisto's pupils to sliver, green eyes focusing on where he rubbed his fingers against his uniform.

Before he could tease Mephisto about it, the demon was upon him and Rin gasped, shoved back into the door in a heated kiss.

Mephisto had his clawed hands pressed to his shoulders in an almost bruising hold and the kiss had fangs in it that Rin melted into with a surprised moan. But he wasn't even given time to reciprocate, released just as quickly.

"You're late."

Rin panted, staring up at Mephisto with a sense of bewilderment, his lips still tingling from the rough kiss.

"Come with me, Rin."

Mephisto was already heading to the main doors and Rin had no choice but to follow, jogging to catch up as they left the room and putting the strange behavior behind him.

"How long has it been?"

"Four years have passed," Mephisto spoke as they walked past the familiar courtyard he knew from the Academy.

They reached the entrance, a couple of uniformed exorcist nodding with a polite 'Sir Pheles' at them and Mephisto glanced back at Rin, instructing, "pretend you're my bodyguard."

Rin listened as Mephisto explained that Asylum was set up as a children's shelter as well as an exorcist school, taking in orphans that had, had run ins with demons or had demonic blood to train them.

He was distracted by a group of kids walking by them, one of them catching his eye until he realized why. His mother, now a pre-teen, vanished down the hall before he lost sight of her, unable to stop with how Mephisto's long strides outpaced his own shorter ones.

"It was dismantled after the Blue Night." Rin's attention was drawn back to Mephisto, wary of the way his voice had lowered, a dark undercurrent to it that had Rin's hackles raising.

"Do you know why?"

"You know I don't," Rin grumbled, hearing the smirk in the rhetorical question.

Mephisto looked back at him, mouth quirked in a humorless smile.

"Because it was a place of horror."

That, Rin swallowed, feeling a cold sweat break over his body, that didn't sound like something he was going to enjoy learning about.

But Mephisto was back to explaining as they drew up to a long chamber leading to a militaristic fenced off zone that looked out of place in the ornate Academy halls and marble flooring.

"It's all a front, you see," Mephisto lead them up to the gates, getting waved through by the exorcists standing guard there, "Asylum rests above a hidden research facility known as Section Thirteen. All very complicated areas of study that boil down to one truth."

And a strange combination of scents hit Rin's nose, sterile and metallic and of old misery.

Mephisto's voice came to him through a white noise rushing through his head as they walked to a railing that looked into a vast chamber filled with countless rows of tubes housing floating bodies.

"Simply put, Section Thirteen cloned demon kings and cultivated them for possession."

Everything fell away until it was only Mephisto's voice and his slit-pupiled eyes glinting in the fluorescent lights of the lab that Rin could comprehend.

"Shiro Fujimoto was born here, a clone of Azazel, King of Spirits."

The words slid into his ears like a violin note strung the wrong way, Yukio's own parting words from that night he'd burned alive and woken as a full demon coming back to him with sudden, horrible clarity.

'Mephisto spent countless lives to create vessels for demons and Father Fujimoto was one of the subjects created by them.'

Rin was cold, or at least he felt that way, shivering as the soul-deep chill was replaced by a simmering anger that he clenched his teeth around before it spilled out as flames, still feeling the heatwave rising off his body when his control slipped.

Mephisto was watching him, waiting for his reaction with a smile and Rin knew he would be expecting an explosion from the revelation but-

But there was only one question twisting through his mind.

"Why?"

The smile warped into something inhuman on Mephisto's face and Rin's heart tightened like it was being squeezed in the demon's hand.

"It's all for Lucifer! The subjects and researchers and research. Everything in this facility!"

He fought for shallow breaths, his pulse jumping until he felt lightheaded as Mephisto laid the last revelation at his feet, "it's all to buy time before Lucifer goes off like a massive bomb."

Rin sucked in a sharp inhale, hands twitching at his side as Mephisto cocked his head to consider how his words had left him, mouth pulled sharp enough to cut.

But…

Something had just become apparent to Rin and he pinned Mephisto in his gaze.

"That's what that kiss was all about earlier."

Mephisto's smirk dropped and he stepped back, spine straightening as if defensive at the off-tangent statement.

Rin rubbed at his chest where the tie was hidden on his tail, bowing to look up at Mephisto through his bangs. "You knew this was one of the parts I was gonna be angry at you for and wanted something in-case I decided this was the thing that pissed me off for good."

The furrowed brows and mouth quirked into a frown answered Rin's question and he huffed out a breath through his nose.

"Okay, let's go then," Rin said, raising his head and squaring his shoulders to the now taken-aback expression on Mephisto's face. "What's next?"

He stalked the last few feet to stand before Mephisto, staring up into the acid-green of his eyes and waiting for the next move.

"Very perceptive, Rin. Once again."

And Mephisto had a black clawed hand cupping the back of his head in a light press, kind smile tugging at his lips.

Rin frowned but sighed, giving up for the moment and leaning forward, careful not to touch his horns to the clothes as he rested against Mephisto's chest.

"Aren't people gonna wonder why you're petting some random bodyguard in your lab?" Rin grumbled out when Mephisto ran his thumb in a warm circle over his scalp, scratching lightly through his hair.

"Yes, that would make me seem eccentric, wouldn't it?" Mephisto responded, grin in his voice that had Rin rolling his eyes even as he turned his head to settle his cheek more firmly to the demon king's chest.

Mephisto traced the flats of his claws over his jaw and Rin let the heartbeat echoing beneath his ear sooth him as much as it could.

"Luckily, we aren't in line of site of any cameras and the only people in the room now are on the lower level amongst the experiments, so our secret is safe for a while longer yet."

Rin pulled back, feeling his lips twitch into a ghost of a smile, though the mention of experiments put a damper on it.

"So? I thought you said I was late."

Mephisto released him, claws leaving his hair, and he turned with a sharp flourish to continue their journey.

"Once again, you're a terrible distraction, Rin."

Rin snorted at that as they came to a long hallway with a thick metal door at the end and two guards stationed in front of it. "The only one of us who's terrible is you and you know it."

"Rin."

The way Mephisto said his name had him falling silent, hearing the warning in his voice. "From now on stand with your feet shoulder width apart and clasp your hands behind your back. Stay behind me and don't talk."

And they were through the door and Rin knew why Mephisto had given him those orders.

Lucifer's overwhelming presence hit him right before the scent of rot and decay did and finally the room itself registered with Rin.

The king of light lay in the center of a lowered section of the room, skeletal body wrapped in rust-red stained bandages with large tubes run through at his stomach and mouth.

He was surrounded by more researchers in lab coats all fiddling around complicated looking screens and medical equipment, though they looked up at their approach.

There was only the mechanic whoosh of the machine helping Lucifer breathe echoing in the cold room and Rin fought the urge to flee, drawing strength from Mephisto's presence.

He focused on Mephisto's scent, letting it block out the others in the room as much as it could and felt his thudding heart calm a little.

For his part, Mephisto walked forward, hand reaching up to remove his hat as he was greeted by who Rin guessed was the head scientist.

"I apologize for being late, are you ready to begin the experiment, Mr. Eminescu?"

Movement from the side caught Rin's attention and his breath stopped as he recognized one of the Grigori, flashing back to his trial that felt like years ago now and hiding a wince even though he knew they wouldn't recognize him here.

"Oh my, it's Shemihaza and everyone from the Grigori," Mephisto said, voice an affectation of surprise.

"I must witness everything," came the woman's response from under her ornate robed uniform, one of her entourage adding that they couldn't leave a sacred sage alone. The false smiles from the rest of them, all eerily similar, on their faces sent shivers up Rin's spine, only enhancing the discomfort the whole situation was causing him.

Eminescu drew their focus back to begin the experiment and described the process to create what he called elixir number five.

Rin shuddered at the casual cruelty spoken of without any sign of guilt, as though the man was reading from a textbook and not actively participating in human and demon torture.

And it was all to give Lucifer a perfect body.

Rin had no choice but to wait with the rest of them to see how the elixir would affect Lucifer.

He could feel the tension in the room hike up as anything failed to happen, the researchers throwing increasingly nervous looks towards Mephisto and checking their computers as if to find something that their eyes weren't seeing.

"It's been thirty minutes," Mephisto said, voice causing several people to jump. "Any changes, Mr. Eminescu?"

At the stuttered reply to the negative, Rin heard a soft chuckle come from Mephisto and realized he was enjoying Lucifer's suffering. Rin wasn't sure why that surprised him, but the slight smile on his face that Rin caught seemed to confirm his suspicions.

Another reminder about Mephisto's nature.

He glanced back at Rin, a warning in his eyes that Rin was guessing was telling him to follow his orders without question. "Stay here."

And Mephisto walked down the stairs towards where Lucifer lay, "Can you hear my voice, Lucifer?"

He came to a stop besides the bed, hands behind his back as he smiled down at Lucifer's rotted form with false concern. "How do you feel?"

Rin jolted where he stood when Mephisto's question prompted retching gags from Lucifer, the respirator dislodging from his throat with a wet squelch from the coughed-up blood forced out with it. Rin could smell the rot and decay in the blood, for once wishing he had his old, human, sense of smell back so he could avoid what the scent was telling him.

"The elixir appears to have failed."

The disappointment was palpable in the room, though nobody seemed surprised. Rin couldn't decide how he felt, and a heavy stone seemed to have lodged in his stomach.

"Lucifer." Rin held his breath as Mephisto addressed the still coughing demon. "If you abandon that body, you will be free of your suffering. Leave Assiah alone and return to Gehenna, you can acquire a new body later."

Rin couldn't understand why Lucifer hadn't left his body already. The sheer agony he must be in at all times was something incomprehensible to Rin. Then Rin realized what Lucifer giving up his body would entail, something all the demon kings went through, and something Rin still didn't know how he would handle if he saw it happening.

Getting a new body meant possessing- no, killing the human it belonged to. The bodies of Amaimon, Mephisto, and of all the demon kings, had once been humans. Humans like Shiro.

Rin felt sickened with himself, and then, looking at Lucifer, felt sick again, finding his eyes had begun fluttering in rapid blinks as his rising emotions twisted like snakes in his gut until he was nauseous.

He didn't have time to think about it further and Rin was relieved despite what the interruption was as the respirator was removed from Lucifer's throat so he could speak.

"Samael, you-"

Lucifer gasped, words weak and like they were dragged from his ruined throat but leaving Rin chilled to his core.

"-Are so _cruel_."

"Someday I will be rewarded." Even with lips rotted away, Lucifer smiled, no longer seeming to be speaking to anyone but himself.

"I _believe_ that."

Rin's vision tunneled, hearing the fanaticism there. He was reminded of Yukio.

Yukio.

He realized he'd begun trembling where he stood.

Mephisto spoke then, though Rin heard it as if through cotton, focus entirely on the now still figure of Lucifer on the soiled table.

It was only when people began moving, filing out of the room, that Rin jerked his head up, staring with wide eyes into Mephisto's as the demon approached.

But Mephisto only made a short gesture indicating Rin should follow him and the relief to finally get away from Lucifer's madness that shot through him in a full-body shiver almost made Rin sob.

He managed to choke the reaction back and forced his legs into a stumbling walk, following Mephisto when he passed by him to head out the way they'd entered, though Rin's body was numb.

Something made him look back once more only to see Lucifer's pale green eyes locked onto his from the cot and he stumbled, pure terror freezing his limbs.

Rin didn't know how he got out of the room. It was as if he'd blinked and found himself on the other side of the heavy door. Even after making it down the hall, the metallic clang of it shutting lingered in his ears, the scent of Lucifer's rot and the feeling of his presence pressing in on him with each step he took no matter how far he got away.

Then it was just he and Mephisto alone in one of the many seemingly endless cold metal corridors of the nightmare he'd found himself in.

"Did you sense how dangerous his unrestrained wrath would be?"

Rin collapsed to his knees on the ground, clenching his fists in the dark material of his uniform. He registered Mephisto's question but was unable to give it his attention as one thought rose above the rest and he gasped it out.

"Yukio!"

He looked up and saw Mephisto's brows furrowed in confusion, head cocked and hand flexing the grip he had on his hat where he'd been about to put it back on.

"Yukio's with him- I left Yukio with him!"

Mephisto growled then, and Rin's breath stuttered in his lungs at the irritation he heard there.

"You continue to blame yourself for other's actions, Rin." The cold statement didn't help Rin's growing panic and that only served to make Mephisto more frustrated, snarl twisting onto his face at whatever he saw in Rin's expression. "Your brother made his own decision that night, knowing full well who he was going towards and who he was leaving behind."

Rin shook his head, face heating and tears pricking at the corners of his eyes, "I'm his older brother, I'm supposed to watch out for him! I knew he was acting strange and something was wrong and I didn't do anything!"

Mephisto's lips drew up into a sneer to reveal he'd let his fangs drop in his mouth, rearing back and drawing in a hissing breath and Rin had never seen him so _angry_ before.

His heart slammed against his ribcage and his hands were white-knuckled where they clenched over his knees and he just wanted Mephisto to comfort him!

The tears started then, escaping his eyes and running down his cheeks as the desperate need to curl up and hide in Mephisto's arms came out of nowhere to squeeze at his heart until it was an almost physical pain.

"That is a childish- human, sentiment."

And Rin was biting down on his lip until blood welled up, echoing the pain knifing through him and constricting like thorned vines at his insides as he started to tremble.

A faint sound came from around one of the corners and Rin sucked in a sharp breath, hand reaching up to scrub at his mouth only to hear Mephisto take his own long inhaled breath through his nose and snap his fingers.

Rin froze where he found himself stood to Mephisto's side, face cleared away of the blood and tears that had left sticky tracts down it.

He had to force away any new ones from falling as Shiro appeared at the end of the corridor.

Shiro was a teenager, now, garbed in a medical gown and walking with a researcher and two exorcists who were clearly his guards.

"Ah, Shiro," Mephisto began, and Rin had to hide a flinch at how cheerful his voice was. At the smile on his face. How quickly he'd recovered. "Today was your annual day for experimentation. Good work."

Experimentation.

Rin wanted to be sick.

"I hear you're an excellent exwire," Mephisto continued when Shiro just glared at him. "I hope you make exorcist soon."

"Just die, would ya'," Shiro said, bitter, and went by with the rest of the humans without another word.

They were out of view, Rin once again alone with Mephisto.

"Lucifer will not stop until he has the perfect body, Rin."

The smile had dropped from Mephisto's face, the demon clasping his hands behind his back as he stared Rin down.

"The test subjects exist to suppress his insanity. Do you understand?"

Rin couldn't help but focus on him, thinking back to the madness he'd felt from Lucifer. He understood.

"Come."

And he followed as he was led to a room with a viewing window to see a row of beds beyond it, most holding someone who looked like Shiro. Like his dad.

A few researchers were sat at their consoles or moving around the room and Rin had to stop himself from asking how they could possibly do what they were doing to other humans, knowing about the human capacity for monstrous acts.

"At first, we made countless clones to serve as his vessels." Mephisto's lips twitched into a smile at some irony he must have been remembering, "it didn't go well."

Was it better or worse to have the ability to empathize with others and still hurt them, or, like a demon, completely lack the ability to empathize at all?

Looking between the humans and Mephisto, Rin didn't know.

"Then, Mr. Eminescu suggested developing an elixir for providing immortality. With something like that, he could have _any_ body as a vessel."

Rin watched as one of the researchers sliced into Shiro's arm with a scalpel while another wrote something down on his clipboard and he wanted to be sick all over again.

"Testing the drugs was hell on the clones."

Rin heard Mephisto's voice as if through water, seeing the way Shiro held a hand to his newly bandaged arm when he was finally left alone on the cold table. He looked small there, amongst the fluorescent lights and rows of bodies.

"They tested and died like guinea pigs."

That sent a flare of anger like hot Sulphur rising in Rin's gut, a churning nausea that made bile sting at the back of his throat.

"This is the place that gave birth to the man known as Shiro Fujimoto," Mephisto finished, tilting his head to eye Rin with a face devoid of mercy or empathy at what he'd just described, though Rin knew he'd never see those emotions there anyway.

But Mephisto was expecting a response to the revelations and Rin made himself choke one out, the only one he could think of, "wasn't there any other way? This is horrible!"

The smile on Mephisto's face was warping again, fangs bared and eyes gleaming as he shrugged. Something about the movement seemed off- struggling for casual and Rin wondered if the argument they'd had in the halls wasn't still affecting him in some way.

"I can't say that I understand how you're feeling, I'm a demon, after-all."

Rin bowed his head, breath sticking in his lungs as he tried to exhale, and reached for a calm he didn't feel, "I know you are."

He closed his eyes, finding they were too heavy to keep open anymore and unable to keep looking at Mephisto because all he could see were the rows of bodies on cots through the window behind him.

He breathed out again.

"And I know you don't."

The words tasted like rot and ash in his mouth.

It hit him that he wanted to see Amaimon then, with a yearning that was almost a physical ache even though he knew- knew! That Amaimon wouldn't understand why he was so upset about the lives of the humans being destroyed, that he was just as much a demon as Mephisto.

But Amaimon would also see that he was hurting and move to comfort him, whether he understood the source of the pain or not.

And Mephisto…

"Then, what will you do now, Rin?"

The question broke him out of his thoughts, and he opened his eyes, finding them burning with his emotional exhaustion and the hot tears threatening to fall again.

At least the smile was off of Mephisto's face, back to watching and devoid of any expression that Rin could parse.

He couldn't think anything to say, lost in the way Mephisto eyed him like he was one of the test subjects, something to be picked apart and analyzed down to his bared core. Nothing left but the base components of his soul for Mephisto to do with whatever he chose.

Mephisto's next question slid into him with the careful precision of a sharpened knife, almost gently, even.

"Will you give that tie back?"

Rin gripped the fabric of his coat over his tail where it rested at his heart, feeling the outline of the rumpled tie. If the material hadn't been so sturdy, he might have cut into his own chest again, though the realization came as if he were a bystander, staring down at himself in a haze.

"Lucifer was right about one thing, Mephisto. You are cruel."

Rin brought his eyes up to meet Mephisto's, seeing them glitter with some warning and Rin wondered if he disliked being compared to the other demon king.

He continued anyway, still feeling like he wasn't getting enough air, like the walls of the facility were closing around him, trapping him in the cold of a metal cage. His next words came out forced around the lump that had formed in his throat.

"Why are you doing this?"

Mephisto smiled, fangs revealed, as he turned to glance at the clones in the room behind him

"I thought we just went over that, Rin."

Rin sucked in a thin breath, shaking his head. "Not… That."

He hesitated and shot a look at the researchers clearly eavesdropping on them, suddenly very aware the conversation he was having was moving into personal territory.

Mephisto's gaze flicked to the side and he must have realized the same thing because he frowned, straightening his stance so he was no longer leaning against the counter.

A moment later and Mephisto snapped them back to his office.

He leant to sit back on his desk and arched a brow, silently asking Rin to explain himself.

Rin pressed his lips together, his heart fluttering a nervous beat in his chest as he tried to put his thoughts into a language that Mephisto- that a _demon_ would understand.

"There's this thing you do," Rin started, words slow. "Like just now, at Section Thirteen."

Mephisto narrowed his eyes, "I've done many things, you'll have to be more specific, Rin."

He let the rejoinder slide off him, knowing he next sentence wasn't going to make Mephisto any happier or less confused.

"You keep testing me, like you're trying to push me away."

Rin could see the immediate denial on Mephisto's face, though it was probably more to the effect of his being a demon and thus incapable of having the heart required for such a thing, than any human motive Rin would recognize.

"It's like you're waiting for me to decide I've had enough and walk away. And you keep throwing these things at me like you're hoping I will."

He crossed his arms, listing out examples as if Mephisto didn't know exactly the times he was talking about. "The festival and Shima. That mission to rescue Shura. That night after the Christmas party. Yukio leaving. And my burning."

"And now this." Rin sighed, weary. His heart was a heavy weight in his chest as he tried to understand Mephisto's motives and knew he'd never get the full scope of them if he had the rest of his immortal life to try, "I'll never be able to look past something like the torture you've put these people through. I just don't have it in me to do that."

Mephisto's pupils were slivers in the acid of his eyes, mouth extended into that distorted smile and fangs bristling as he stared at Rin like a snake about to strike, never looking so inhuman as he did at that moment.

"What's. Your. Verdict. Rin."

The familiar question from Mephisto brought a tired smile to Rin's face, the sight of which made something like hesitation- or possibly fear, enter Mephisto's expression, his own smile twitching like it wanted to be a scowl.

It was funny, Rin decided, to have to spell out something he'd thought was so obvious to a creature as ancient as Mephisto.

"I already told you. And I'll keep telling you, if you don't believe me- for as long as you don't believe me, until you do," Rin said, hand coming back up to rest at his heart as he delivered his verdict with finality, holding steady in the face of Mephisto's monstrous gaze.

"I'm yours. You're mine."

Mephisto's breath left him in an animalistic hiss, claws flexing and teeth gritting.

He looked lost, scared, his hand dropping to the edge of the desk as if it was the only thing supporting him and staring at Rin with eyes wide like a child's.

Rin un-did his uniform and the shirt beneath it enough to reach down and take the tie from around his tail, smiling sadly at the rumpled fabric clutched in his hand and smoothing it once with his thumb.

He held it out to Mephisto, hearing the demon's breath catch in his throat at the sight.

"So, the question isn't, will I give the tie back, Mephisto. It's, do you _want_ me to give you your tie back?"

Silence met him.

He'd said his piece. Let Mephisto do with it what he would.

Mephisto didn't respond for a long time and Rin thought he might be at a loss for words, wondering if such a thing had ever happened to him before.

Then Mephisto started shaking, arms crossing tight over his chest as if in a hug until it looked painful and he hunched over as the shaking turned into laughter.

It sounded desperate.

Rin didn't let the choking, ragged laughs faze him, knowing any reaction to such a raw question was never going to have a normal response from the demon.

When Mephisto jerked his head up to turn his rictus of a face on Rin, his eyes were glassy in the light and Rin wondered if he'd ever cried from something other than physical pain in the long years of his existence, if he even understood the feeling.

He kept his hand extended, waiting with a quiet patience for Mephisto to come to a decision.

The manic laughter tapered off, though the expression Mephisto wore appeared too bright to be anything but a façade as he stepped a slow, unerring path over the carpet towards Rin.

Rin stared up at him when he stopped, chest just an inch away from brushing his fingertips.

Mephisto brought his black clawed hands up to curl around Rin's, chin turned down and bangs shadowing his eyes to focus on where they intertwined as if seeing them together for the first time.

When he looked up at Rin, it was with a smile that seemed to show all the ages he'd lived for, stamped out in a timeline across his face and Rin thought he was catching a glimpse of what it really meant to be immortal in that moment.

The hands holding his gently closed, bending Rin's fingers into a firm hold over the tie.

"No, Rin," Mephisto said, bringing his hand up to press a kiss to it and murmuring his answer there like a secret just between them, "I don't want you to give me my tie back."

Something settled in Rin. He wondered again if Mephisto was experiencing the same feeling, as the tension in his body unwound and he let out a shaky breath.

His energy left with his exhale.

He slumped forward, leaning on where Mephisto's and his hands were still clasped between their bodies, the emotional exhaustion finally catching up to him as the last few hours took their toll.

"Thank you, Mephisto" the three words formed in his mouth, barely a whisper ghosting over their fingers, when he really wanted to say another set of three.

He repeated himself to avoid saying anything else.

"Thank you, thank you thankyou thankyouthankyou-"

Mephisto cut his word stream off with a hard kiss, shuddering as he released his hand only to bring him into a tight embrace like he wanted to meld their bodies together.

The words ran on in a mantra in Rin's head, the urge to say them a physical ache in his ribs and against his lips. But he forced them back with sheer willpower, knowing Mephisto was still too cut open and raw to take them well.

Rin could wait.

He had the rest of eternity to wait.

Mephisto broke away with a gasp, panting into Rin's mouth and nose pressing hard to his cheek when he didn't move back.

Rin dropped his head to tuck it beneath Mephisto's, letting his hands rest over his back and feeling the rapid heartbeat there even out until he thought it was safe to speak.

When he did speak, it was low, not wanting to break the stillness of the room but knowing he'd have to.

"I think I should go to the next scene, now."

The hold on him tightened, reluctance to let Rin go evident in the move.

He tapped his fingers in a soothing rhythm to the clothed spine under them. "I need to finish this so I can go back to my present."

"I know, Rin," came the muted voice into his hair.

"You were right, though," Rin said, small smile forming at the admission, "I did need to come back to the past and see this."

A soft chuckle echoed, "I'm often right."

Rin took a steadying breath and pulled away, already missing being enveloped in Mephisto's scent.

He grinned, though it felt tremulous, unsure, up into the green eyes watching him before tugging his shirt open to free his tail a bit more, wincing at how tangled it was.

"This is gonna be such a pain to brush," Rin said, sighing at the knotted mess but raising his hand to present the tie to Mephisto, grin turning to a soft smile when he saw Mephisto hadn't quite recovered yet.

"Do you want to do the honors?"

Mephisto took the tie from him with an almost delicate care and Rin tracked the way he wound it back into place on his tail in a meticulous bow.

The longer strands of fur fell between Mephisto's fingers as he stared at where he let the finished product rest, pale white blending with the pastel pink of the bow and the pallor of his skin.

His claws contrasted with the fur as he drew his thumb in slow motions, just parting through with the black edge of a nail and not even tugging so that Rin barely felt him there.

"I know it's only going to get worse from here, it's okay," Rin said, voice soothing, and he laughed inwardly at the irony of comforting Mephisto instead of the other way around.

"This story ends in tragedy," Mephisto spoke the warning again, though this time it seemed more to himself as his shuttered gaze still hadn't left where he held Rin's tail.

Rin wasn't sure if Mephisto was talking about the past anymore.

He brought his hand up to cover Mephisto's, stopping his repetitive stroking and bringing his attention back.

His words came out measured and calm.

"It's okay, Mephisto."

Mephisto looked lost again, but Rin didn't think there was anything he could do about it this time.

Rin slipped his tail out of Mephisto's hand as he stepped back to tuck it away in his shirt. He slid the last button of the uniform into place, hand hesitating there as he realized he didn't have anything more to do but leave.

"I'll see you soon, well, soon for me, I guess," Rin tried, hoping to end on something positive as he turned, key in hand, to use on the door behind him.

A hand gripped his arm and he was spun around, shoved against the office door for the second time that day, his lips captured in a desperate kiss as Mephisto simultaneously pressed further to his body while tugging him as close as possible.

Mephisto had his other hand at Rin's jaw, tilting his head to deepen the kiss like he was trying to memorize the taste of him.

Rin brought his hands up to frame Mephisto's face, claws running soothing lines over the wrinkles of his clenched eyes and furrowed brows.

He brushed the stray hairs away, calming the disarray until the tension singing through Mephisto eased and the kiss became less strained.

"Wasn't it you who said you weren't mad yet, but you would be if we didn't say goodbye to you?"

Mephisto had broken away to press his forehead to Rin's, speaking his words back to him from what seemed like a lifetime ago, though, Rin was realizing, for the king of time, it may as well have happened yesterday.

"You're right again." Rin closed his eyes, wry smile on his lips at the reminder.

He drew Mephisto into one last gentle kiss, hand at the back of his neck and thumb rubbing a comforting circle at the shorter hairs there, before forcing himself to pull away a final time.

"Goodbye, I'll see you soon, I-" His lips shaped the rest of the words but- Rin shook his head, hand falling away from where he'd still been touching it to Mephisto, and he opened the door into the void.

The darkness swallowed him but the sound of Mephisto's own farewell echoed long after he'd left him behind.

* * *

The door closed on Rin's parting, bringing the scent and presence of him away until it was just Mephisto alone in the room.

The back of his neck still burned with the ghost of Rin's touch.

He could still taste him on his lips.

His steps, when he forced himself to move to his desk, seemed weighted down with all the years of his existence pressing in on him and Mephisto had to teleport himself to his chair when he found he couldn't go any further.

What did he want?

His empty room stared back at him as if in judgment.

He thought he'd known.

What did he want?


	13. Netflix and Chill with the Bae

Incandescence Chapter 13

Netflix And Chill With The Bae

Summary: Rin has given Mephisto something to think about, or several things (schemes, plans, plots, these words are interchangeable). At least they can distract themselves with the reality show that is the past. If by reality show, you mean the tragedy of Yuri and Shiro's lives as told in parts with surround-sound and high-definition to catch all the graphic, gritty realism.

(A/N) That was heavy, guys. Let's lighten things up again (until we get to 108, that is, then it's all down-hill from there) :D

OHHH my god did you guys SEE ch 109? The dip! The hand holding! Crazy baby Rin (or maybe even Yukio? Depending on which fan theories you're following)! Possible false memories/past to reveal whether Rin actually carries Satan's flames!

…And besides giving me delicious material to work with, of absolutely no help at all when it comes to plotting out this fic :D I miiiiight be able to squeeze out one more chapter (at least enough to get me to "the helicopter explosion" scene) but after that uh, I guess I'm gonna be working on my other aoex fics for a while?

MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE

I would LOVE to get song recs for this fic! Like, idk if you guys have noticed but I have a couple song(s) of the chapter and will be adding more to the other chapters eventually, too. But it would be amazing to get recs from you guys. Anything from songs that fit the chapters, songs that remind you of Mephisto, Amaimon, or Rin (or any combination of the three), or even just songs that remind you of the fic/go with the over-all theme would be excellent :D

END PSA

* * *

The void fell away.

A new scene had formed around Rin, but he couldn't pay any attention to it at first, needing to lean back on the door he'd come through and just breathe.

He wondered how long the jump had been this time, if it had given Mephisto time to think about the choice he'd just made.

If he would see him in this scene.

His hand found his coat collar and had it tugged back before he could process the instinctive movement. Rin didn't question it, sticking his nose down the front and breathing the way his and Mephisto's scents mixed, blocking out the rest of the world until he stopped shaking.

"Gather round!"

Rin gasped, pulled from his thoughts by the shout coming further from his position and he finally looked to see where he'd ended up this time.

The massive old growth forest, still sunny in the mid-day heat, that greeted him had a wash of relief rushing through his body at no longer being in the cold metal labs of Section Thirteen.

He moved towards where the voice had come from, sticking to the shadows cast by the trees until he had to crouch behind a fallen log.

A large group of kids and their instructor stood in the clearing ahead of him and he startled when he recognized his mother again, looking, maybe, a bit older than when he'd last seen her, though it was hard to tell.

"For today's mission we will exorcise an ent!"

Rin listened as the instructor described the mission and the kids' role as support while the exorcists and exwires were to take down the ent.

It was kind of adorable, Rin blinked, watching how his mother interacted with her classmates. Plus, it was nice to hear that she was an excellent student and Rin had a brief flash of thought that maybe Yukio had inherited that part from her, since Rin had never been in the same realm as the words 'good' and 'student' used together when referring to him. Then he winced, mood dropping as he realized where, or who, else his scholastic abilities might have come from.

"The exorcists and exwires have arrived!"

Happy to be off that line of thought, Rin startled as his mom gasped and shouted "you" and ran off through the crowd to the newcomers. Then Rin saw why. Shiro, wearing an exwire uniform, glared down at an excitedly chattering Yuri, only to spit out a callous "don't talk to me, brat" at her and walk off with his group.

That was, Rin hid a grimace, rough to see. And his mother's confused and dejected expression hurt even more.

The battle began, the kids using their torches to weaken the massive roots while the exwires and exorcists attacked the main trunk, the quakes from the grenades and bellows from the ent sending the ground shaking beneath Rin's feet and he crouched lower to avoid getting toppled.

Then he gasped, watching Shiro steal a grenade from one of the others who had been fumbling it before throwing himself headlong up the flailing branches to chuck the grenade straight into the demon's mouth. The battle was over. Shiro had won with his dangerous maneuver.

Rin's ears echoed with the cries of the ent as it went down but he focused on how Shiro stood before the burning remains instead of thinking about it.

It was hard, watching Shiro and seeing himself. He understood what it felt like, when everyone moved as if in slow motion and the way to win the fight so obvious and he _knew_ he could do it. But Konekomaru and his friends had shown him that he didn't need to do that, throw himself on the frontlines and take all the damage. That others deserved the same chance to prove themselves because Rin couldn't always be around to protect them.

Hearing the way the onlookers whispered amongst themselves, wondering if Shiro was even human, sent another wave of painful familiarity through Rin. Although, at least they hadn't called Shiro a demon yet.

The ent was defeated, but the greenman demons of the forest were still fleeing the fire coming from its corpse and filling the area with smoke.

Rin helped a few along that had run into his foot, faint smile pulling at his lips as he was reminded of Shiemi and her own greenman familiar.

He wanted to go home.

He forced himself to tuck that thought away, knowing he wasn't anywhere near being done with the past and he'd _promised_ Mephisto that it would be okay. He could handle this.

Shiro walking his way, or rather, towards his mother, dragged Rin's attention from his homesickness.

"The way you fight is dangerous," Yuri blurted out, Rin agreed, but he could also see Shiro wasn't ready to hear something like that, "I get it, you're strong, but you scared everyone, including me!"

Bullets discharging into the fleeing greenman behind Yuri had Rin flinching, teeth gritting and heart jolting in shock, mirroring his mother's, as Shiro mowed down the little demons with a cool expression.

He'd seen that same expression on Yukio's face when his twin had shot him the night he burned.

Shiro was worse off than he'd guessed, but Rin didn't know why he was surprised after witnessing the childhood he'd gone through- was still going through. The disparity between the Father Fujimoto Rin had known and this person he was now had Rin wondering where the shift had come from, how he had overcome something so horrific.

Rin wondered how he'd put a past like that behind him to call Mephisto a friend, in the end. Or if that had been a lie, too.

"Exorcists exorcise demons." Rin was pulled from his thoughts again by Shiro's cold words, something in them discordant and making Rin want to immediately disagree with him, even if he didn't know what to say.

"Yeah, but- no!" Yuri spoke instead, "Exorcists save people from demons!"

That was it, Rin settled, though their argument sparked familiarity in him, and he wished he could place it.

Shiro stalking off with final hateful words towards his mother had Rin shifting in conflicted anger, wanting to defend his mother, knowing what a horrible place Shiro was coming from.

But it had become obvious...

Shiro wasn't just prickly, he was destructive.

A presence burst into being in the shadow of the trees behind a group of exorcists and Rin felt ice climb up his spine, not needing their words to tell him what it was.

"Hey, what's that blue flame?"

"It's a Rinka! That's odd."

Satan had appeared again. Rin swallowed around a dry throat, edging away from the clearing back towards the rusted locker he'd arrived through. It was time to go, he'd seen enough of this scene.

He closed the door behind him to the sounds of fire crackling through the forest, wondering where he'd end up next.

A lengthy series of scenes followed, Rin finding his path taking him along the frantic pace of Shiro's exwire career. A swath of violence enacted on both demons and humans, Shiro somehow not realizing he was holding himself back by being confrontational towards his fellow exwires, getting in fights with them over the smallest of infractions.

It was a hard scene to watch as Shiro's guardian was taken down in a fight just shy of Shiro's upcoming graduation to finally attaining exorcist status. The familiar glasses Shiro- whose eyesight had worsened over the years, Rin was guessing because of some side-effect of all the experimentation he was undergoing- took off the man's dead body made the nostalgia he felt at seeing them curdle in his gut, now knowing their origin.

Rin entered the next scene, heart heavy with something almost worse than the life he'd just witnessed.

He still hadn't seen Mephisto in all the previous scenes. His scent on the tie around Rin's tail had become faint and he'd had to strain to pick it up over his own.

His heart squeezed in his chest. The sight of the Academy greeted him as Rin leant back against the walls when he was once again confronted with the tall metal gate into Section Thirteen, juxtaposed with the warm golden halls of the cram school he knew.

He stayed against a cool marble pillar, needing to steady himself as he took another shuddering inhale to the tie, trying to scent Mephisto out and realizing the scent was only in his head.

Exorcists and other personal moved around his still form. He'd never felt so alone.

Shiro's now familiar scent forced Rin's attention up from the tie and Rin watched as he was freed from the horror of those metal halls for good, the researcher's saying their farewells- how they were glad Section Thirteen was releasing him, to Shiro's snappish response.

Rin felt vindicated that Shiro hadn't let them get away with sounding like they had any right to say those things to him, not after what they'd put him through, even if they'd had no apparent choice.

The scene fell away as he left for the next one, once again opening the void into the Academy to see Shiro dressed in his full exorcist uniform.

Mephisto's tie seemed to burn where it lay over his heart. Rin didn't bother checking, knowing the disappointment of not being able to smell him anymore would only hurt.

Shiro walked away and Rin made to follow when steps down the hall behind him, somehow loud amongst the other bustling sounds of everyone else in the massive chamber, stopped him in his place.

Breaths stuttered in his lungs, his nose flared as he picked up the scent he'd been searching out since he'd left it behind in that office.

"It will likely be some time before you get inducted as an exorcist, Rin, this should be a fun little peek into the proceedings."

Rin wrenched his head around, the force probably enough to cause whiplash in a normal human's body but that didn't even register over the voice that reached his ears through his thundering heartbeat and rushing pulse.

The claim snapped back into place between them as Rin stumbled forward to grab Mephisto's hand where it had been raised as if to place it on his shoulder.

He shuddered there in the hallway, fingers clenched around Mephisto's and head bowed so Rin could lose himself in the thrum of energy he hadn't realized had become disconnected in the time he'd been absent.

Mephisto stepped closer, gentling his white-knuckled grip with his other hand and stroking his clawed thumb over the creaking tendons until Rin was able to calm his shivering breaths.

"You'll miss the ceremony if you stay here, Rin."

Rin's voice rasped out in a wordless croak from disuse when he tried to respond to the quiet reminder. He realized he hadn't spoken since he'd last seen Mephisto, either.

How long had it been? The scenes had all begun to blur together from that moment to this one.

"It doesn't smell like you anymore," Rin said, then coughed to clear his throat, raising his head to finally take in Mephisto and feeling his grip tighten again without his say when he did.

Green eyes stared down at him from a careful expression, anything more held back behind a slight frown, just a tug of Mephisto's lips downward, and Rin couldn't place what he was thinking at all.

He- he needed-

-He needed skin on skin _contact_!

Rin had his glove shucked, hand yanked from Mephisto's to return in the next instance while he sucked in a gulping breath, instincts settled now that he'd gotten what they'd been screaming for.

The sounds of the hallway filtered back through his senses and Rin flushed, realizing there were a lot of people who could notice at any time that he was holding hands with the director of the Academy.

He tugged his hand away and back into his glove, shoulders hunching as he winced and looked up at Mephisto.

"Sorry, I panicked," Rin said, voice a mumble in his embarrassment. After-all, it had been much longer for Mephisto and _he_ hadn't reacted like that.

Mephisto blinked, his gaze flicking down to where his own hand was held out like it was still in Rin's.

A wry smile overtook his face, then, claws flexing before he dropped his hand to his side and walked ahead of Rin, leading the way to where Shiro had gone.

"I'd forgotten you've never experienced those particular instincts before, you handled that much better than I would have expected," Mephisto said from over his shoulder.

Rin had to contain a shudder at the small distance widening between them and hurried to catch up before he did something drastic like hug Mephisto in the middle of the hall.

"So uh, what were you saying about a ceremony, I wasn't really paying attention," Rin asked, anything to get Mephisto talking again so he could hear his voice. Not that his question wasn't honest, because he really hadn't heard the words coming from Mephisto's mouth.

He was listening now.

They entered a wide room, filled to the brim with exorcists all facing the stage where a towering statue of a knight atop a horse overlooked the audience and Rin finally tore his unblinking gaze from Mephisto's back to take the rest of the details in.

Shiro kneeled, head bowed, on an ornate padded foot-rest on the last step in front of one of the Grigori and Rin felt his breath catch as they spoke, their words carrying a ceremonial overture, "top of his class, Senior Exorcist at the Japan Branch of the Knights of the True Cross, Shiro Fujimoto!"

Something clicked in Rin's head as they continued, "betwixt light and dark and with an intrepid spirit, practice self-restraint, serve humanity, and be faithful to others."

"In the name of the Grigori and the paladins throughout history, I dub thee Knight."

Rin peeked his head further over Mephisto's shoulder where he was stood behind him, grin breaking out onto his face as he realized what was going on, "it's an exorcist induction ceremony? So cool!"

His move had brought him an inch away from Mephisto, the heat from his body sending a jolt straight through Rin's heart before he forced himself back with a lurch while his pulse pounded at the almost-contact.

Mephisto turned, clapping with the rest of the crowd for Shiro, a smile on his face as he must have realized what Rin had almost done, or maybe he was just smiling at Rin's excitement over something that was business as usual for him.

"Once a year at the Vatican, those who pass the certification exam are instated as exorcists," Rin listened as Mephisto explained how the ranks were received based on the class of demon a person could exorcise on their own during the exam, ears twitching to hang onto the voice over the noise.

"The world's exorcists assemble to size up their new peers, you're sure to see some faces you know."

Rin made himself to scan the crowd, gasping as he recognized a younger Todo amongst who must be his family and Rin had to suppress a growl at the traitor, wondering if he'd already begun working for Lucifer yet.

But, again, he reminded himself there was nothing he could do, going back to survey the rest of the people and spotting a few of the top exorcists, that giant of a man he'd seen carting off Lightning and the short old woman, scowl on her stern face that maybe had a few less wrinkles than before. And Dr. Eminescue.

He suppressed another growl and turned his gaze to the stage before startling, taken aback by the tall man standing with a serious expression on his face and a massive long-sword held between his crossed hands so the point rested against the floor.

"Something about that guy," Rin muttered out to himself only to get pulled from his musings by Mephisto's voice again, "that is Abel Franken, the current paladin."

"He reminds me of someone," Rin said, analyzing the dark hair, long nose, and shaped beard over a time-worn face.

"Oh, I wonder who?" Mephisto's light response had Rin shivering, stuffing his hands in his pockets to hide clenched fists even as he kept trying to think about why the paladin seemed familiar.

Anything to keep his attention from going back to Mephisto.

"Junior exorcist second class, Yuri Egin." The words from the Grigori stopped Rin from considering the paladin further and he felt a joy rise in his chest, pride, for his mother.

The ceremony passed after that, Rin not recognizing most of the other exorcists inducted. He smiled to see the way Yuri was greeted and congratulated by her friends afterwards in the crowd, Mephisto having led him to where they were.

It was sweet. Rin felt mushy inside as he saw the girl, Jenny, that had been so fiery and snappy in the forest scene with his mother now clearly one of her best friends along with the guy, Rick, that kinda reminded Rin of Godaiin.

The three of them chattered excitedly until Yuri spotted someone in the crowd, gasping and calling out, "Shiro! Congratulations!"

And, Rin winced, got a middle finger stuck up for her efforts from Shiro, who was still an ass.

"Come, Rin, you've seen enough of this," Mephisto tapped a finger to his arm and Rin flinched at the contact, dulled through his sleeve, but nodded and followed Mephisto out of the mass of people to the nearest exit.

Rin jerked his gaze to the door, then back at Mephisto, realizing what he must have earlier.

There were too many people. They couldn't do anything here.

Rin suppressed the whine that wanted to escape, biting his lip and feeling his heart thud against his ribcage.

Okay, okay, Rin repeated inwardly, Mephisto probably had some important meeting as the director after the ceremony and couldn't put it off. He could do this, he just had to go to the next scene and _get Mephisto alone_.

He forced his elongated fangs back and smiled up at Mephisto, reaching to use his key, "I'll see you later, bye, Mephisto."

"Goodbye, Rin." The soft answer followed Rin into the void and he allowed the hiss he'd been holding in, out, feeling a wild desperation build again now that he didn't even have Mephisto's scent nearby anymore.

His hand was gripped over his tail and heart until Rin realized he'd made the subconscious move and yanked it away like it burned.

Night greeted Rin when he opened the door to the next scene, and he blinked as he adjusted.

A 'poof' reached his ears, but Rin didn't have a chance to take advantage of the lack of people nearby to get at Mephisto before he was teleported to a rundown apartment complex, finding himself stood next to a small window to look into one of the dwellings.

Shiro laid on his bed inside and Rin caught him smiling to himself, staring at an ID and his room as if he couldn't believe either existed. Rin was brought back to what Shiro had shouted at Mephisto as a child- his reason for wanting to be an exorcist. To have a room to himself and freedom.

But Shiro didn't stay there for long, already rolling to his feet and pulling his uniform on as he headed out the door.

"Come, Rin, best not lose track of him, this city is a maze," Mephisto said, hand coming to grasp at the crook of Rin's elbow. The simple touch nearly sent Rin to his knees, weak at the claim pulsing in his senses.

He was barely aware of Mephisto guiding him along, mind lost in a fog and body numbed- unable to even kiss him like he wanted to as they trailed after Shiro.

A bar greeted Rin, the scent of cigarettes from the group of exorcists Shiro pawned one off of almost enough to get his attention from the warmth of Mephisto's hand on his arm.

It must have been his first cigarette, Rin managed to wonder at through the cloud of smoke mirroring the literal one rising around Shiro as he coughed when he took a drag.

The cigarette didn't distract Shiro for long, though, and Rin saw where his true destination was almost before he started over to the bar.

Dark hair, blue eyes, and a seductive smile greeted the impish one on Shiro's face as he sidled up to the curvaceous woman working at her drink.

It took no time at all for Shiro to seduce her away from the drink and back to his apartment.

"He's enjoying his newfound freedom," Mephisto cooed from behind Rin where they were stood on the balcony, wide smile exposing fangs as sharp as his interest in the things Shiro was getting up to with his first conquest.

Rin. Couldn't. Take it. Anymore.

He spun around, shoving Mephisto into the wall beside the glass sliding doors, claws almost tearing through the gloves over them as he got his hands on Mephisto's shoulders and his mouth on his throat.

Mephisto's fluttering pulse beneath his tongue and his scent filling his nose drew a ragged groan from Rin and he pressed further into him, trembling there with his eyes clenched closed.

"Ah," Mephisto sighed once the shock had worn off, hand coming up to press at Rin's spine in a comforting weight as he spoke in a low voice, "not handling well at all, I see."

Rin tried to respond but it was just a muffled jumble of words where he couldn't seem to let Mephisto's neck go and he settled for a small shake of his head.

"I suspect it will be even worse when you see Amaimon again."

 _Amaimon_.

Rin sobbed at the thought of seeing the earth king, fangs sinking down before he could stop himself, though he managed not to break skin as Mephisto grunted at the bite constricting his airway.

The hand at his spine rose to his head and scratched through the strands of hair there until Rin could control his fangs, drawing them in so just the normal ones remained.

That got a chuckle from Mephisto, his finger tapping to the back of Rin's head, "I should have waited to mention him when you weren't so attached to my throat, hm?"

Uh yeah, Rin let out a huff of breath through his nose, releasing Mephisto from his hold only so he could drop his head to the crook of his neck and inhale the scent there, nuzzling further into it and feeling his eyes droop.

"These instincts are dumb," Rin muttered eventually, slumped in Mephisto's arms and not in the mood to move any time soon, "I don't like feeling clingy."

He felt a smile stretch against his head where Mephisto had been resting and Rin wondered if he was also scenting him out, if he'd been affected like Rin had.

"Not clingy, Rin, possessive," he said, laugh in his voice, "or am I not yours?"

 _Mine_.

"Mine," Rin growled, echoing the word pushing up from his subconscious in a startling burst as his hips rolled into where they met Mephisto's, a new set of instincts boiling to the surface.

"Right here, Rin? Your exhibitionist tendencies rise again, I see," Mephisto teased, though he was quick to respond with an answering twist of his hips against Rin's, pushing them closer with a hand at the base of his tail.

"Okay, first of all, I'm not an exhibitionist, Amaimon is just a bastard," Rin hissed, pulling his head away to glare up at where Mephisto smirked, though just saying Amaimon's name sent another fissure through him that had him jolting in an uncontrolled quake.

"And what's second of all, Rin?" Came the cheeky response.

Rin scowled, hands clawing into Mephisto's suit, "second of all, if I don't get skin on skin contact with you _right now_ I'm going to combust and that will definitely ruin both our nights."

"Not to mention poor Shiro's," Mephisto laughed, even as Rin dug his hands under the bottom of his shirt until his questing fingers found skin and rubbed there, drawing a shiver from both of them and a hitched breath- loud, despite the pulse rushing in Rin's ears, from Mephisto.

That was the spark his instincts needed to overwhelm him after the long torture of looking but not touching he'd gone through.

A burning haze took over in Rin's mind. His fangs dropped and he could feel his eyes warping, though the awareness of those things was second-string to getting through all the unnecessary buttons of Mephisto's suit.

Even just pulling his hands away from under the shirt to get it off of Mephisto was almost too much for Rin's fevered instincts screaming for physical contact _nownownow_.

"You're going to tear something if you keep that up." The words slid along his senses, only the cadence of their smooth tone reaching Rin and sending a growl rumbling from his chest in wordless frustration as he fumbled another button.

Through it all, he'd shoved a leg between Mephisto's, grinding down onto him and unable to stop enough to coordinate getting rid of the infuriating clothes in the way, giving up and panting against Mephisto's chest with a thin whine.

"Mmm," that voice rolled over his ears again as the hand at his hip dipped under his shirt to caress his tail while Rin gasped silent whimpers into the folds of fabric under his cheek, "Amaimon is in for quite the treat when you get back to him. I'm almost jealous."

 _Amaimon_.

The name rang like a single clear bell in his head and a snarl erupted from his throat, body jerking as he renewed his efforts to get at Mephisto.

This time he just raked his claws, having torn through the gloves without his notice, over the damned clothes between him and what he wanted.

They came away bloody and Mephisto hissed at the pain, but Rin was already lapping at the healing scratches, moaning as he brought more of the heady liquid onto his tongue and parting the tatters of the suit to press closer.

"Tch, I suppose I'm just lucky you didn't burn them off," Rin ignored the voice to kneel, bringing his hands around the slim waist and chewing at the delicate skin above a loop of coiled tail.

He nosed at the now quivering belly, inhaling a long breath as his eyelids shuttered and he dug claws into where they'd captured the hips under them, kneading there while he processed his claim on the body before him.

Black claws tipped his chin back and Rin gazed through glassy vision up into the shadowed face over his, only able to see the luminous green eyes staring back, all other features fading as he clenched his fangs around a desperate sound.

"Let me help you with that, Rin."

A snap and his uniform opened, gloves vanished and pants unzipped- his length now freed to the still night air.

Rin shot up in a long slide of overheated skin against skin, locking his fangs around the jugular of his claim as he thrust to meet the hardened length revealed in the same snap.

The growl that came out vibrated through the throat he laved his tongue to while he brought his hands to shove down the back of now loosened pants to knead there instead.

He wanted more.

He had those pants pushed down and dragged off as soon as the thought crossed his mind.

It was only so he could haul his claim up to slam him back into the wall, eliciting a gasping breath and claws gripped to his shoulders in shock.

But long legs wrapped around him and hands drew him close again as he slid his length beneath canting hips.

"You little demon, I give you an inch- ah! And you take a mile."

The delicious sounds coming from his claim only spurred him on and he pushed forward, seeking friction and loosing another growl when he couldn't get it.

"I'll- hah, have to help you with that too, I suppose."

A hand on his length had him groaning into the collarbone he'd been about to bite, but the matching groan and sudden tight heat enveloping him had his fangs sinking in anyway until his claim had seated himself fully.

His hips stuttered in an instinctive thrust, claws digging into the muscles of the back he'd clamped them to and fangs unlatching so he could moan as he started fucking up into the exquisite tightness without further hesitation.

 _Mine Mine Mine Mine_

"Mine," he growled into the throat now under his fangs, surrounding himself with the scent there until it was the only thing he could smell and letting a pleased purr rumble through him when it made that neck arch back, revealing more of it to his gaze.

The salt of the skin under his tongue where he trailed it as he led his fangs over a rushing pulse had him slamming harder to those hips, lips stretching into a snarling grin at the cut-off shout from his claim.

Why was he keeping quiet? He wanted to hear him _scream_.

Tail. That would get him to let everyone know who he belonged to.

It was still wound up, shivering at each impact of his body into the wall behind him. He would fix that.

His own tail shot out from the annoying obstruction draped over it and he would have burnt it off of him if he hadn't been so focused on where he'd started yanking that tail from his claim's waist to twine the two of them together.

" _Yes_ ," his breath hissed out of him at the heaving chest, panting mouth, and glazed eyes the twists along the trapped length of tail he dragged his against caused.

Now, where were his screams.

He reached down to run a tight grip over his claim's length. He would try pain next, if this didn't work, he decided.

But instead of releasing those screams he wanted, his efforts got him the sight of his claim biting down on his lips to stifle them, blood seeping from the punctures.

His claim was being stubborn.

Pain it was, then.

Fangs extended in his mouth to their full length and he grinned around them when it made his claim's eyes widen, letting go of where he'd bitten his lip with a warning sound on his tongue.

It was too late for that, he should have given him what he wanted sooner.

He sunk his fangs into the meat of his claim's shoulder, the rush of hot blood against his lips and down his chin making him come, thrusting hard into the body over his and snarling his pleasure into the ragged tears.

" _Ahh_!"

There was his scream.

Another rush of warmth hit him when his claim released against his body, shuddering and moaning until he fell limp into the wall at his back.

"Hey, I think there's something out there."

A voice came from inside the building.

"Probably just the damn alley cats fighting."

Hmm, he wasn't sure he wanted anyone to actually see his claim, should he kill the trespassers?

"Rin- hah, dear, now would be a wonderful time to come back to yourself."

His claim was mouthy.

He let go of the bite he'd been worrying at, allowing the punctures to start closing so he could bend down and lick a stripe of release away from where it had splattered his claim's chest.

"Rin-" he cut off those words and shoved his tongue into his claim's mouth, letting him taste himself as a pleased purr rumbled from his chest.

There, now he was satisfied.

"No, really, I think there's something there, can you check?"

Who?

"Fine, fine, I'm checking."

Shiro?

Rin gasped, drawing back and unwinding his tongue from Mephisto's with a wet slide, trailing release and saliva between them as steps from further in the apartment neared their position.

Panic had him pulling out of Mephisto, face flushing at the hiss it got from his hurried movements.

"Mephisto!" Rin whispered frantically, staring into the slow smile curling down at him as Mephisto regained his composure.

"What was that about consequences and reaping them?"

"Oh my god! You could have brought us back to your damn room whenever you wanted, dammit," Rin growled when that only made the smile widen.

His heart pounded when it still looked like he wasn't going to do anything about the encroaching Shiro.

The sliding door unlatched.

"Mephisto!"

A snap, and they were on a nearby building overlooking the place they'd just been.

"Hey, whoever the hell's out here, you're interrupting," Shiro said, griping as he stuck his head outside to peer into the darkness.

"Was there someone there?" The woman called.

Rin knew the second Shiro saw the evidence of their deeds.

"Ugh, no, it was definitely just some damn cats fighting, there's a bit of blood- probably got a rat or something. Now, where were we?"

Rin slumped down onto the roof, relieved groan leaving his mouth as he dropped his head back and closed his eyes, still fighting a blush at the almost discovery.

Only to yelp as he found himself straddled and a hand tugging his hair so Mephisto could nip at his jaw.

"Well, that was a marvelous display you put on for me, Rin," he said, delight in his voice.

Rin glared, grabbing at Mephisto's wrists until he saw the state the both of them were in and groaned again, "I can't believe I just did that, I tore your clothes! Why didn't you stop me?"

Mephisto slid his gaze down to where Rin's uniform was parted around his body, traces of their activities drying in the night air but still teasing them with the mingled scents.

"I have been known to do worse to the things that are mine, on such occasions."

"That doesn't make me feel better," Rin grumbled, "I'll be able to control this stuff later, right? You can, I mean, I didn't see you jumping me in the hallway or the other times I was gone for a while and saw you again."

"Oh, Rin," Mephisto leered at him instead of answering the question, like an ass. "Every moment I'm not 'jumping you' is a moment wasted."

Unbelievable. Unrepentant. And other 'Un' words Rin couldn't be bothered to think about right at that moment as he dropped his head into his hands and sighed, already moving to put it behind him for the sake of his own mental health.

"I don't think I'll be warning Amaimon about what's coming for him."

"Amai-" Rin bit off a hiss around the fangs extended back in his mouth and glowered up at Mephisto because he definitely knew what he was doing mentioning him like that.

"Alright, that's it, can you please clean me up so I can get to the next scene?" Rin said, scowling at the impish smile his reaction got.

"In such a rush to leave after you ruined me so thoroughly, Rin? I'm beginning to feel used," Mephisto said with pretend hurt as he drew a claw over the blood staining his shoulder and torn white suit, pout on his face that twitched as he fought against another smile.

Rin burned with both shame and the flames coiling under his skin, a strangled sound fighting passed his lips at the imagery those words conjured in his head. Ruined was right.

Mephisto grabbing at the end of his tail prompted another yelp from Rin, his hands falling away as he blinked, startled at seeing the tangled end of it held in front of his nose.

"From that stunt with this tail of yours, I'd say you won't have a problem smelling me on my tie anymore- at least for a while." Mephisto wagged the captured tail until Rin sneezed at the tickling strands.

He couldn't help taking a breath, though, eyes half-mast as he realized Mephisto was telling the truth about the tie smelling like them again. A sigh escaped him, relief soothing the irritation he'd been feeling as he pressed his nose into the rumpled tie and the fingers wrapped around it, letting his eyes close the rest of the way.

Mephisto laid a kiss to the top of his head before standing, hand at Rin's elbow to bring him along.

By the time Rin opened his eyes, a snap had come and they were cleaned and dressed, though a not-so-small part of him was disappointed to see Mephisto clothed again.

His tail was under his uniform and Rin tapped a newly gloved finger to it, reassuring himself that everything was back in order before tilting his head to look at Mephisto.

"I," Rin hesitated, "I will be able to control this eventually, right?"

That got a wry smile sent down at him, Mephisto crossing his arms as he answered, "yes, Rin, as I said, for your first time with those particular instincts, you handled yourself quite well."

"Well, huh," Rin said, grumbling as he shook his head, "I was about to murder Shiro and that woman because they might have seen you and I didn't like that- _and_ I wanted your screams and I didn't really care how I got them."

Mephisto grinned, eyes crinkling at the horrifying statement and moving to frame Rin's face in his palms, "you say the most romantic things to me, Rin."

Yeah, he should have guessed those revelations would get that reaction from the demon.

"You can imagine, then, what my and Amaimon's experiences were in the beginning, if I say yours was tame by comparison, yes?" Mephisto brushed his thumbs over Rin's cheekbones, letting his words and their implications sink in.

"Yeah," Rin managed, eyes glazing as he tried to imagine the scenes. That was- that was something to consider later.

 _Amaimon_.

"Hm, off you go, then." Rin shook out of his daze, automatically accepting the kiss dropped to his lips and following as Mephisto guided him to the nearby rooftop door.

It was still hard to leave Mephisto's side, and if his good-bye kiss went on a moment longer and was a little deeper than he'd planned, well, Mephisto wasn't complaining so Rin didn't let it worry him much.

He entered the void, instincts settled, for now, and hoped he wouldn't have to wait so long to see Mephisto again.

* * *

The door opened to the sound of a slap and Rin blinked as he saw a girl stalk down the open-air walkway, turning to see Shiro rubbing a hand to his red face.

Ah, he hadn't improved much in the kindness department, Rin could see, wincing as he noticed his mother walking by with Rick and eyeing Shiro down.

"Shouldn't you go after her? She must really like you," his mother asked, despite the rude way Shiro had snapped at her about minding her own business.

"What's it to you? Butt out!" Yep, Rin has seen that coming.

A new girl approached Shiro from the opposite direction that other girl had gone, asking about drinks later, which Shiro accepted without a second's hesitation.

Yuri's comment to Rick about Shiro seeming lonely had Rin silently agreeing, wondering when the break would come. Shiro couldn't keep going like he was without something snapping.

A hand at his elbow and a physical snap had Rin gasping, pulled into a dip with Mephisto over him, swallowing his surprised yelp in a kiss before he could think.

"Is- is there something else I'm supposed to see in this one?" Rin panted when he was finally allowed up.

Mephisto smiled down at him, "nope! Off you go again, Rin."

Rin huffed an amused breath out, shaking his head to hide the pleased blush trying to stain his cheeks, and stepped into the next scene.

And the blush was back full force as he realized he was back on Shiro's balcony, sliding door shutting behind him to reveal the way his _surrogate father_ was going at it with the newest girl.

He snapped a glower at the grinning demon who'd appeared to stand at his back, already rubbing gloved hands at Rin's hips as he looked without an ounce of shame into the apartment.

"Was there a point at all to this scene, dammit?" Rin hissed, turning in the arms around him and yanking at the hair framing Mephisto's face to get his attention.

"We should keep an eye on him," Mephisto said, smile stretching to inhuman proportions in devilish glee.

"Ugh!" Rin tugged the ridiculous bastard down into a snarling kiss before shoving him away and stalking into the next scene, hoping this one had a purpose.

And was blasted by a wave of heated air, dry wind whipping sand into his eyes as he hunched to shield them from the blinding light until a hand at his spine directed him away to the side of a stone wall.

Some barrier between his eyes and whatever was shaking the ground he stood on, Rin was able to look up, struck silent by the massive stone demon attacking the swarm of exorcists trying to calm it down.

"This is a mission that took place in Mexico twenty-nine years ago," came Mephisto's voice over the wind and shouts.

Rin watched as a pacification ceremony failed, exorcists scattering before they were crushed under the stone beast.

He was teleported down to the basecamp they'd set up, finding Shiro, the old woman and the giant man, as well as a bunch of exorcists Rin didn't recognize, and Yuri.

They relayed the failed ceremony, each tossing out other options to try. Shiro's plan to just blow it to bits was a complete non-surprise to Rin, despite hearing the earlier discussion that the animated stone was a sacred artifact to the Mexican government who'd employed the Order to help exorcise it and was not to be damaged.

And then his mother came up with the suggestion that it could be a golem and asked to be allowed to try pacifying it her way.

Shiro's derisive comment had Rin sighing internally at the clear antagonism, glad when the old woman nodded, allowing her despite the danger.

They watched, ready to jump in if she couldn't stop the golem and Rin, once again, despite knowing she survived the encounter, still felt fear pinch at his nerves.

The golem bore down on Yuri, earth shaking around each lumbering step as she stood strong and steady against the impacts.

Rin gripped into Mephisto's sleeve as it reached her, then sighed as it paused its pace to trot the rest of the way, leaning down and sniffing her with the carved nose of its stone face.

At no sign of violence from her, the golem shrieked, raising its arms as if to crush her. Still, Yuri remained in place. The arms landed on either side of her body, thuds sounding in the area but not moving her from her position.

And the golem shrunk until it was shorter than Yuri, resting after its rampage as she tore off the seal that had controlled it, improperly completed and the reason it had begun its rampage in the first place.

"Well done, Yuri Egin, you're ambitious," the giant man said- and Rin was really going to have to learn his name at some point because he seemed like he was going to be relevant whether he was in the past or present. Now, if only someone would say his name because Rin didn't want to give Mephisto even more fuel to tease him with by asking him for it.

Rin watched as his mother turned down the potential promotion they offered to put in a good word for after seeing her skill, saying she was happy where she was because she liked demons and didn't want to fight them.

That statement from her made something warm curl in Rin's gut that he didn't try to analyze, shoving it down to hear Shiro snap out another derisive comment.

"You're unreliable and a hypocrite, don't get cocky!"

Rin winced, Shiro was… not making it easy to like him.

"I've made my decision, do you disagree?" The old woman asked, once again, another key player Rin really had to learn the name of.

"She just got lucky," Shiro scoffed, walking off.

It all devolved from there.

Suddenly, Rick was running up to them to offer Shiro a water only to get it slammed in his face, leaving him with a bloody nose and the words 'low ranking scum' hurled his way.

And Yuri was on him, slapping Shiro and shouting, calling him weakling before she had to be pulled off, still yelling until one line froze Rin in place, stunning Shiro too.

"You treat the whole world like your enemy! If you keep acting like this, you really will end up alone!"

The words his Shiro from the future had told him that long-ago day Rin had attacked his classmate came back to him in a painful memory. He'd been right, and Rin had taken his words to heart to find real friends.

It was… something to see where those words had come from.

But that Shiro was a long way off from this one.

Shiro lashed out.

His hand struck blue flame.

The onlookers gasped as he was rebuffed, Yuri's whispered 'Rinka' reaching Rin's ears over the commotion that followed.

Rick dragged Yuri away by the scruff of her uniform while she pouted.

Shiro was thrown over the giant man's shoulder and scolded, "this merits punishment, for both of them."

"Hey, Osceola, put me down!" Well, Rin sighed as Shiro was carted off, at least he had a name for one of the exorcists now. The struggle would be remembering it, as usual.

Mephisto leaned down on Rin from behind, a heavy weight meant to be deliberately obnoxious, Rin guessed, as he grunted and poked his side until he let up the pressure.

"Lemme guess, we're done here?" Rin said, hand resting at the point of Mephisto's elbow where it bent over his shoulder to allow him to tease the wisps of hair at the back of Rin's neck, unaffected by the desert heat.

Mephisto prodded his nose into his neck and Rin was grateful no one looked over to see the director, who Rin wasn't even sure was supposed to be in the area for the mission, nuzzling into some random exorcist.

"Yes, it's that time again, Rin," he murmured against him, sending a shiver down his spine and making his ears twitch.

"Okay," Rin said, rubbing his fingers over the arm he'd lain them to.

He left the embrace with a last squeeze of his hand to Mephisto's, smiling back at him before heading to a door.

Mephisto was acting weird. Oddly affectionate and, initially, Rin had put it to being for the same reason he'd been so clingy, but by Mephisto's own words he had long ago learned how to ignore or control the instincts that being away from someone carrying his claim caused.

So, there was another reason, or reasons, that Rin suspected he had no hope of understanding but already knew was going to have consequences he may or may not like. It hurt to think the name, but Rin wished Amaimon was there to try to parse what might be up with Mephisto, or at least commiserate with him about the behavior.

He really missed Amaimon.

Rin stepped out into the next scene, covering his shuttered breath with action as he found himself outside a massive greenhouse on the outskirts of the Academy. He stared up at the towering glass walls until movement brought his attention back down to see Shiro surveying the same thing.

Although by the look on his face he didn't appreciate it as much as Rin did. Maybe it was his association with Shiemi and Amaimon that had Rin comforted by growing green things and the smell of earth.

Of course, Shiro didn't have either of those associations, Rin winced, following him down stone steps to where Yuri crouched over some tiny golems crowding around her feet.

It was kinda cute how they stuttered through their stilted apologies, Shiro ending it with a 'don't mention it.'

Arms wrapped around his chest and Rin leant back into Mephisto as he dropped his chin on his head when he joined him in the greenhouse.

"Hm," Mephisto began, vibrations going through Rin from the soft accompanying rumble in his chest, "there's nothing so entertaining to me than watching two humans bump around each other, fumbling in the dark."

Rin blinked at that non-sequitur, sensing Mephisto was revealing something important but unable to figure out what that meant in the scheme of things.

He settled for silence, placing his hands over Mephisto's where they hugged at his stomach.

The conversation Yuri and Shiro were having drew Rin back from contemplating Mephisto.

They'd moved on to talking about the little golem familiars Yuri loved so much, Shiro warning her that they weren't pets, that the slightest weakness would have them turning on their masters.

"The weak can't survive, people use weaklings like tools and then kill them," Shiro said, reminding Rin what Yuri had screamed at him in the last scene and realizing Shiro was giving a more in-depth apology than he'd expected.

Or at least an explanation.

Rin winced as Shiro recalled his childhood, or lack-thereof, "the first thing I remember, we were drugged and in confinement, my brothers and sisters going mad one by one until they died."

"We didn't have parents to protect us," he shot a look at Yuri out of the corner of his eyes, "I survived because I was strong."

"So, I can't stand it when someone calls me weak! Don't ever call me that again!" Shiro burst out to Yuri's saddened expression, face twisting in a manic smile when he saw it, "what's that look for?"

Yuri didn't let him phase her, and Rin had a flash to his own recent confrontation with Mephisto, heart skipping a beat at the similarities but calming himself before Mephisto sensed something wrong.

"You've had a horrible time," Yuri finally spoke, words sympathetic and clearly not what Shiro wanted to hear, by his immediate denial.

"Your brothers and sisters died, and you were frightened," she steamrolled on with the same steadiness she'd faced the storming golem with, not letting Shiro escape the truth.

Shiro was breaking down, eyes widening when Yuri placed a gentling hand on his cheek, his words weak as she drew closer, "yeah, it sucked, but it's no big deal!"

"I," Yuri leaned in, eyelids shuttering and her voice dropping to a murmur until she pressed a soft kiss to Shiro's lips, drawing back slowly before he could react, "I'm in love with you, Shiro."

Rin had his hands over his eyes, feeling the points of his ears heating. He couldn't take it, it was too cute, just like one of those romance manga he'd stolen from Yukio's not-so-secret stash to cry over in his dorm when no one was looking.

"Y-you, how old are you," Shiro's question broke him from his thoughts.

Yuri's response had Rin clutching at Mephisto's arms, "I'm sixteen."

Rin hadn't realized that, actually, his grasp of the timeline and how old anyone was, completely shot by the random jumps through it he'd taken.

"You're just a kid, ain't happening," Shiro grunted, walking off without any further acknowledgement, and Rin could see him pulling his defensive layers back around him with every step he took.

A presence in the greenhouse near his mother had Rin's hands clenching harder into Mephisto where he'd brought them.

Yuri went over to the blue flames that had appeared in the enclosure without hesitation, talking to it like a friend as she relayed her rejection by Shiro.

Rin had broken out in a cold sweat but forced himself to unlatch his tight hold on Mephisto and turned in his arms, stating with as much dignity as he could muster, "that was so embarrassing, the will they-won't they is killing me and I think I'm gonna find somewhere I can scream until I get it out of my system."

"It was _fascinating_ ," Mephisto shivered against him, claws tightening at his waist and Rin got the sense, once again, that he was missing something.

Still, he huffed a breath out, smiling, and dropped his hands to Mephisto's arms, "I'll leave you to your people watching, since you don't suffer from second-hand embarrassment, apparently."

Mephisto blinked down at him, a slide of his gaze as green slit-pupiled eyes and a smile that just showed a hint of fang met his words, "please do, Rin, I've been anticipating your reaction to this upcoming scene for quite some time now."

Rin hoped that was positive foreshadowing he'd just heard and not something new for Mephisto to tease him about forever.

His mouth was captured in a kiss while he was distracted with wondering what the next scene could possibly be to have Mephisto almost squirming against him in just contained joy.

Lips left his after one final press, Mephisto stepping back to allow Rin to extricate himself and head to the nearby door. He realized he was trembling in his own anticipation, Mephisto's words and kiss getting him keyed up.

He walked into the void and wound up back in the bowels of Section Thirteen, ice dousing his excitement in a cold rush down his spine at the sight of those metal walls, so confining after the natural environments he'd just been in.

Mephisto came up behind him to lean over his shoulder, his presence immediately calming Rin's discomfort and allowing him to peer into the chamber containing Lucifer he'd have preferred never seeing again.

"You've traveled about four or five years back in time," he said as Rin cracked the door open enough to hear the conversation inside.

"Back?" Rin murmured, thrown for a moment until he realized it really didn't matter whether the story played out in a linear stream when he had the key that could take him anywhere along it and was guided by the king of time, who probably didn't even recognize time in the same way Rin did.

The scene before him included a few researchers keeping watch at the consoles, that strange entourage of people that looked way too eerily similar to each other, and the Grigori member who's name Rin couldn't recall but that they attended.

And, of course, Lucifer himself, still in that horrifying rotted state that combined with the chemical-metal smell of the room in a way that set Rin's nerves on edge.

"That is Shemihaza, Rin," Mephisto said, somehow guessing that Rin had already forgotten the name, which, while embarrassing for Rin, was actually helpful, so he rewarded it with a brush of his fingers to Mephisto's hand.

Shemihaza stepped up to the medical cot where Lucifer lay, the long train of her elaborate robe held by two members of her entourage as she pressed a light hand to his bandaged arm.

"Lucifer," she began, and Rin saw the way his bloodshot eyes focused on her, "the other day, Amaimon left his body of two-hundred years and returned to Gehenna."

Rin sucked in a breath at Amaimon's name, hand gripping Mephisto's as he hung onto Shemihaza's every word for another mention of the earth king. He heard the soft chuckle from Mephisto and fought a scowl, knowing he'd be suffering that brand of teasing for as long as it took him to overcome his instincts.

"Lucifer, this facility and its research have reached their limit, I cannot continue."

Lucifer's body went still, and Rin hoped this Shemihaza woman could see what effect she'd had on the demon king because Rin didn't think it was a good one.

"Please," Shemihaza, brought Lucifer's hand up to hold it between hers as she pled with him, "please, abandon your attachment to material things."

That was the wrong thing to say, Rin gasped when Lucifer clenched his fist, the action prompting fearful cries from the humans in the room as Shemihaza shouted for them to get out until it was just her and Lucifer.

Lucifer shattered the medical implements around him in a flex of power, the breathing tube that had been in his mouth tearing away so his dangerously low voice could echo in the hollow chamber.

"How cruel," he began, speaking around rotted lips and missing teeth as Shemihaza tried to contain the shivers it caused in her.

"I just… want to create a world full of gentle light!" Lucifer shot up in his cot, shouting at Shemihaza while she grit her teeth to muffle a shout at the unexpected move.

"A fair world, where everyone is equal!" Lucifer grew more hysteric, eyes lost in a glaze of his own thoughts, "the haves do not understand the have-nots!"

"But I do!" He gripped the hood of her uniform, bringing her closer, "I want to be a light for the weak, that's all."

Lucifer's body had strained too hard, he coughed, releasing Shemihaza to fall back, "so why?"

"Please, Shemihaza," seeing the terrifying and insane demon king begging scared Rin more than any display of his power had and he forced himself to breathe as Lucifer shouted again, "I need a body that works! Give me hope, too, Shemihaza!"

But Shemihaza was unmoved and Rin didn't know how, "no, Lucifer, we must not change the laws of this world."

Lucifer's eyes widened at the cruel denial, "are you even human?"

"I abandoned human compassion when I took this position." Somehow her answer scared Rin almost as much as Lucifer did.

Rin was sucked into the conversation, unable to anticipate how Lucifer would respond only for his heart to skip a beat as Lucifer bolted upright again, seeming to sense something Rin couldn't.

"What?" Shemihaza asked when Lucifer didn't say anything.

"I sense Amaimon has found his next body."

Rin jolted against Mephisto, heart now pounding in his chest, Shemihaza's responding shock about how soon it was barely registering as Rin realized why Mephisto was looking forward to seeing his reaction to this particular scene.

"Mmm, time to go check on our earth king, Rin," Mephisto breathed against his ear, draping himself over Rin and running a hand down his shuddering frame, "I wonder how he's doing right now."

Rin moved to go put his key, shaking and not even trying to hold it steady in his grip, back into the door to take him to _AmaimonAmaimonAmaimon_ when Mephisto stopped him with a hand on his, "best not do that, Rin."

And snapped, teleporting them into an empty room overlooking another. The bright colors and childish wall art of clouds and rainbows in the room below all paled in comparison to the figure writhing on the floor amongst terrified exorcists and clones, frozen mid-evacuation at the scene.

A green lizard-like tail sprung from the body, pointed ears, black claws, and sharp fangs elongating from their weak human forms into the ones Rin was intimately familiar with. Odd shaped horns, looking like curved emerald wedges and scrawled with a spiral pattern grew to arc back over his head, hair fading from black to a deep green while he let out choked and pained cries.

He arched his spine, body taut in agony and wild eyes focused on his chest as he clawed there until…

Rin stilled where he'd been shivering at the sight.

Amaimon's demonic heart twisted into being, floating over his chest.

The vivid green of the spiked leaves unfurled as the heart grew until it was fist-sized, black spines holding the smaller inner white petals that paled in comparison to the dark red meat of the inner walls forming the pillowed dome rising in the center.

A couple longer leafy off-shoots and something that looked like a secondary flower in its infant state finished the picture that mesmerized Rin.

Even the equally as familiar spike of lighter green that sprung up on Amaimon's head couldn't get his attention.

"I was going to take you straight into the room with him," Mephisto said, voice calling Rin from his spiraling thoughts, "but after that little episode of yours I thought it best to take you to this observation room instead."

The reminder should have annoyed Rin more than it did. But…

"I just really want to see it."

That was definitely his voice speaking, sounding as if through miles of water. The thrumming in his body grew stronger.

"Rin, your eyes are warping."

Rin hummed an acknowledgement clenching his fist harder into Mephisto's suit. He stepped closer to the viewing window, seeing the glint of his red slit pupils and blue-fire irises in it, though they were focused on the way Amaimon stared at his own heart where it floated over his chest.

He really, really wanted to get closer. He wanted to examine every inch of that heart.

Mephisto set his hand over Rin's eyes to block them from watching Amaimon, shaking him from his demonic-headspace.

"You'll just confuse him, Rin," he murmured, apology in his voice where he spoke against Rin's ear.

Disappointment bit hard at Rin's own heart. He knew he'd been missing Amaimon, even though it really hadn't been that long since he'd just woken up in his arms.

But seeing the demon sitting down there with his heart in his hands had Rin aching to go to him. He brought his hands up to rest over Mephisto's wrist and fingers, "I know."

He pulled the hand away, catching Mephisto's gaze in the reflection, "but you won't."

The expression on Mephisto's face froze, pupils slitting as he caught Rin's meaning.

Those green eyes slid to stare back down at an unaware Amaimon, and Rin knew he'd be getting what he wanted.

A soft hiss, like a coiled snake, coming from behind him had Rin's fangs extending in response, revealed when he let his lips curl in a smile.

"Rin," Mephisto pressed along his body in a heated weight, hands at his shoulders and head resting so their jaws touched as he spoke, "have I told you yet how much I love the way your mind works?"

Having one of Rin's claims so close to him balanced the almost painful urge to bolt straight down into the room to get at the other half of his claim, only held back because he couldn't smell or hear Amaimon through the soundproofed glass between them.

"Stay here, Rin."

Rin forced himself to look away, finding his breath coming faster in his lungs as he realized he was definitely going to get what he wanted.

He met Mephisto's gaze, seeing the excitement contained there mirroring his own, and reached forward at the same time Mephisto bent to meet him in an open-mouthed kiss.

Their tongues wound together and Rin lost himself in the feel of it, finding both their fangs extended when he accidentally sliced his tongue against the point of Mephisto's, the taste of his blood only pulling out a muffled moan, swallowed between them.

Rin broke the kiss with a gasp, panting around his rushed words, "do you think he'll take it out for me when I get back?"

"Mmm," Mephisto brushed their lips together again, eyes shuttering at the thought before he drew back to answer, "he might, you'll have to ask nicely."

"I'll bring out mine, it's fair, right?" Rin, pressed closer, hands clenched in the fabric of Mephisto's suit and hips twitching where he'd shoved theirs together.

That got a fang-filled grin sent down at him and Rin could see the thought of such a sight playing through his head. "Yes, that would be fair."

Rin smiled, face flushing as Mephisto emphasized his words with a slow roll of his hips.

He laid his head to Mephisto's chest, looking up at the heated expression that greeted him, "one day, will you let me see yours? I promise I won't eat it like I said I wanted to that night I burned."

The hiss that got, the way Mephisto clamped his arms where they'd rested around Rin's waist, the warped smile on frozen features and thudding heartbeat beneath his cheek- it was exactly the reaction Rin had been hoping for.

His lips widened into a sly smile and he dragged his hand down Mephisto's clothed spine, rubbing at the coils of his tail and delighting in the shudder it drew from the demon.

"But I want to watch you eat Amaimon's heart now, okay?"

An actual groan came from Mephisto and Rin could feel him harden through his clothes. He'd done his job winding him up, now it was time to send him on his way and enjoy the show.

Rin gripped the length of tail he'd been lightly tracing, feeling Mephisto jerk in his arms, "you should probably go down there before he puts his heart away, Mephisto, I don't want to have to go to the next scene like this."

At 'this' Rin echoed Mephisto's earlier move and rolled their hips together again to show how affected he already was.

He took his hand away and stepped back, loving the frustrated sound Mephisto couldn't hide, to reach up and tug him down by the hair framing his face so he could murmur his next words into his ear, "go on, I'll be watching."

Rin had just managed to slide the tapered length of his tongue to the tip of Mephisto's ear when he was spun around and slammed into the panel of the observing window.

"Don't move from this spot, Rin," Mephisto growled into his ear, hand palming him through the layers of his uniform and making him groan against the glass, his breath fogging it where he panted.

"Okay," Rin agreed, breathless and eyes glazing when Mephisto thrust him further to the surface with a rough grind of his hips.

"Good." And then Mephisto left him to shiver where he stood, body weak with excitement over what he was about to witness.

Rin was already focused back on Amaimon, his eyes drawn there, helpless to resist and just barely able to stop himself from going down to him.

The door to the room opened and Mephisto walked in, though really, it should be called a stalk, the way he prowled through the crowd of stunned exorcists towards his true target.

His lips moved, faint smile on his face and soon the exorcists were directing the children out until it was just Mephisto and Amaimon alone.

Amaimon had gone still the moment Mephisto entered, sensing what the humans couldn't, hands caged around his heart as if to protect it. His tail curled until it tucked under his bent knees, thicker than Rin had seen it except the time Mephisto had released him to teach Rin about how far he still had to go if he wanted to defeat Satan.

Rin wondered if Amaimon would use it the way he liked to when it was its usual size, tongue sliding over his lips at the thought. But for the moment, he watched the way Mephisto circled Amaimon's prone form and Rin found his claws scratching into the glass as they twitched there.

Mephisto spoke, eyes narrowed and smile wide as whatever he said caused Amaimon to bring a cautious hand to his own face, prodding at it as if to confirm something before giving a short response back.

The way the two were positioned allowed Rin to see the careful way Amaimon kept his focus on Mephisto, who'd started moving again until he came to stand above him, hands clasped behind his back.

He'd maneuvered so that he faced Rin with Amaimon motionless, his back to the glass so that Rin could see the way his spine tensed through the thin medical gown all the clones wore.

It was only for a second, but Rin caught a flash of acid-green turned up at him where he was hidden by the one-way viewing window and felt his breath catch, knowing Mephisto was about to make his move.

Hyper-aware as he was, Amaimon could see the signs too, head tilted to keep Mephisto in his line of sight even as he curled his legs beneath him as if to rise.

He didn't get a chance to, Mephisto bending to speak something into his ear that had those unblinking gold eyes widening and mouth dropping open to release a silent gasp.

Rin could almost feel the warmth of Mephisto's breath on his own ears, wishing he could hear what was being said, flames coiling under his skin again until his body began to overheat in the confines of his suddenly too-tight clothes.

A cut off groan tried to make its way past Rin's lips as Mephisto slowly crouched back on his calves before Amaimon, his hand rising to the nape of his neck to curl in short green strands.

The remembered feel of that hair in his own hand had Rin fisting it against the glass, imagining himself down there at Amaimon's other side and pressing harder to the smooth surface he leant on.

Mephisto flipped Amaimon around, pulling him to his chest as he settled his fangs at his throat, clawed hand still gripped into his hair to keep him from flinching away from his new position between Mephisto's bent knees.

And he was facing Rin now, demonic heart on full display, throat bared in an arch where he was forced to rest his head to Mephisto's shoulder.

His tail lashed on the ground between his legs, but Rin could see the pink of a flush starting on Amaimon's cheeks and the way his mouth parted around those short gasps Rin could almost hear him making.

Clothes. Rin needed his clothes off, _now_. The heat had become too much, too constricting.

Rin hissed out a snarling breath and got through the unbelievably annoying buttons of his uniform and he was going to have _words_ with Mephisto about how unnecessarily complicated it was to get the damn thing off next time they saw each other.

Mephisto seemed to have the same idea about Amaimon's clothes, raising a hand and snapping, making Amaimon flinch at the sound and the air on his now bared skin but, Rin stopped his frantic movements, unable to take his eyes off the way Amaimon swayed to rub back against Mephisto's own bared skin.

The sensual slide of Amaimon's body, the way the muscles of his stomach and thighs bunched and flexed in his held position, the power of his deliberately enticing actions- Rin bit off a whine, not wanting to test how soundproof the glass actually was compared to a demon king's enhanced senses.

When Mephisto decided to act, Rin almost sank to the floor, tail coming from around his waist to circle his length, a section free so the tip reached his mouth where he wound his tongue around it to muffle the low cry that escaped.

His hands ran down the stretch of his tail when Mephisto forced his clawed fingers into Amaimon's mouth for him to suck on, saliva already slicking them and making his lips shine in the artificial lights.

Rin wanted to lick at those lips until he had Amaimon moaning against him. He settled for dragging his fist over the fur on his tail, tightening the noose of coils further.

And Mephisto kept his gaze on Rin the whole time he played with Amaimon, each touch and caress of a claw over the body in his grasp made to cater to Rin's eyes.

He realized he'd begun echoing those touches to his own body, trailing his hand up his stomach, imagining his was with his two demon kings and letting the scent of Mephisto on his tie where it brushed near his nose be enough for the moment.

That hand reached Amaimon's chest.

Amaimon noticed where Mephisto's aim was just as Rin did. His eyes widened and his mouth dropped open in what must have been a shout of some sort.

Claws gripped over Rin's heart at the same time Mephisto snapped his hand up over Amaimon's.

Screaming. Amaimon was _screaming_ , Mephisto's finger's still forcing his head back to his shoulder as he cried around elongated fangs, eyes glassy and body taut like it was being electrocuted by the tail control he'd been under before.

What did it feel like?

Rin panted, sucking in ragged breaths and hips pushing into his tail, aching as Amaimon writhed in Mephisto's hold, eyes rolling in his head and Mephisto still wouldn't release his heart from his hand.

Those acid green eyes didn't move from the lock Mephisto had on Rin, even as he bent over Amaimon's body to let his tongue loll from his mouth and hover over the bright red flesh caught between his claws.

His knees weakened, legs shaking as Rin tried to keep standing, the heat burning through him at the sight and his own desperate movements quickly becoming too much to take.

Throughout the torment, Amaimon's eyes never lost the glaze over them even as his wild movements exhausted themselves and he lay shuddering in the prison of Mephisto's arms, achingly hard still but unable to handle the extreme sensations the touches to his heart must have been sending through him.

Mephisto let his tongue curl between his fingers as he brought his lips the rest of the way to meet Amaimon's heart and sucked.

That was all Amaimon could take.

He came with a scream Rin wished he could hear, the remembered sound of it seeming to echo in his head as he thrust up in jerking snaps of his hips.

Rin clenched his fangs, the low cry following his release escaping anyway as he lost the battle with his limbs and sank to the floor. His tail dropped from his mouth, aftershocks of pleasure making it over-sensitive where it contacted the hard surface, Rin unable to control it enough to lay it down gently.

But, despite his view now compromised by the spatters of his release on the glass, Rin kept his eyes pinned to where Mephisto was still moving against Amaimon's lower back.

And Rin let out another weak moan as he realized Mephisto was using his tail in the same way he had just been, hips stuttering as he came across Amaimon's sweat-soaked and shivering form.

Mephisto finally let his hand fall from the heart, Amaimon giving a weak jolt where he'd been allowed to collapse.

Head lolling, green hair plastered to his skull, tail twitching and clawed fingers bent where they pressed to the tiles, Amaimon looked totally spent.

Rin wanted to curl up next to him on Mephisto's bed and surround himself in their mingled scents.

He brought the tie back to his nose to inhale there, letting Mephisto's be enough, even as his senses kept pushing him to go to Amaimon.

It became even more difficult to resist when Mephisto regained himself and turned Amaimon onto his back to draw him into a kiss, gaze once again going up to where he knew Rin was watching as Amaimon panted into his mouth, still coming down from what he'd just been through.

The press of their lips together had Rin biting at his own, need pressing with increasing insistence at his mind until he shook himself, blinking rapidly and forcing his legs under him to rise.

Rin stumbled away from the viewing window, hands fumbling to draw the tie from around his tail as he used it to clean his length so he could put himself back in his clothes.

Mephisto was either going to be very happy, or very, very unhappy with Rin the next time he saw him, Rin decided, smirking as he tossed the used tie to the floor underneath the stained window.

A gift, since he doubted Mephisto would feel like leaving Amaimon's side for at least another few minutes and Rin really couldn't last much longer being apart from them.

He gave one more glance to the scene in the room below, heart twisting in his chest to see how Amaimon had his nose nuzzled into Mephisto's neck where they lay entwined together.

The key clicked in the lock and Rin entered the void.

* * *

End Notes:

Uhhh, I guess you guys are getting a two for one deal in this chapter? Like, that Shiro's balcony scene was supposed to be a quickie against a wall but Rin had other ideas? Maybe bc I missed writing one in the last chapter, so I had to make up for it XD

And I would love to say I was surprised at myself for writing yet ANOTHER 35 gd pages... but at this point I am resigned to never writing another short chapter again (:

So remember how I promised something special for Amaimon's heart? Yeah, this wasn't that, it's still coming ;) Consider this a sampler~

Heart touching inspo brought to you by this INCREDIBLY NSFW FANART for Mephisto/Amaimon I found over on pixiv :D

member_ ?mode=manga&illust_id=57242252  
member_ ?mode=manga&illust_id=42422737

Idk, I know technically my fic is erm, also very (very) nsfw? But for some reason the fanart just seems so much uh, raunchier? View at ur own risk I guess lmao


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